Memoirs from a Mirror
by InhaledCorn
Summary: "When you look in a mirror, who do you see? Me? I see someone who is me, but isn't me." A semi-AU, semi-high school, semi-super hero fic. Most cannon relationships are retained, but there is shipping to be had.
1. The Three Brothers

**Quick note before the story: Most characters will be their proper age, but some will be scaled up or down to fit certain needs. For example, Bartz is 17 in this story instead of 20 like he was in game. Firion's a bit older at 21. Cloud's in his 23-year-old incarnation during Dirge of Cerberus. Warrior of Light is 18, a senior in high school. Prishe is 17. Shantotto is 64, not that she would admit it. Cecil is 35, and Theodore is 41, etc.**

**Also, everyone is human unless otherwise stated. Oh, and Squall lacks a certain trademark facial feature at the moment… AKA, his scar.**

"_In this world, where discord and harmony exist equally, I shall start this war anew."_

It was the tail end of summer. The cicadas still cried their shrill songs in the muggy heat at the end of August. School recently started back up, and the students had filed into their new classrooms obediently as the shackles of education reapplied themselves. The teachers reviewed information that everyone but the best of students forgot. The cliques redefined themselves. Friends and peers caught up with what they did over the summer. Clubs began to bustle for new members. Teams scrambled for new players since the seniors graduated. It was so typical.

"Speaking of typical…" a brown-haired boy with icy-blue eyes wearing a white, collared shirt and sky-blue, plaid trousers thought to himself. "Those two are in detention _again_."

Normally, he wouldn't have paid those trouble-making dorks any mind. They were in different cliques, after-all. He was a jock and straight-A student. They were a straight-C delinquent and a class-A clown. He even heard that they had a new, freshman member to their little club of hooligans. The last thing he wanted was to be associated with a band of trouble-makers. However, a certain request made him change his mind…

"What do you mean I gotta tutor those idiots?" the brunette shouted at a man with black hair and sea-foam green eyes wearing a sky blue shirt and brown slacks. "They're not my problem!"

"I know, Squall, I know!" he responded, pleading with the boy. "But, I've tried everything! They won't open up to me at all! Normally, Bartz and Vaan are such chatterboxes, but every time I call them here to talk about what happened, they clam up faster than oyster that got sand in its shell!"

"And what does tutoring got to do with it, Laguna?" asked Squall with an aggravated tone in his voice.

Laguna recoiled when he heard his name. "_Uh-oh, he's mad at me… he wouldn't use my name if he wasn't, but…_" He cleared his throat to muster up some courage. Sure, he was the adult, the parent, here, but when his son looked at him like that, he could only wonder how they became so different, being a guidance counselor provided him with no answers either. "Squall, they need more than a tutor, they need a friend. Someone who can pry open the shell they've secluded themselves in. I've tried talking to them ever since it happened, even during summer, but they just won't talk to me. They need someone their own age. Squall, please. I'm _begging_ you!"

Squall looked at the man who was, unfortunately, his father. Those sea-foam green eyes started to well and bulge. He was using the puppy-dog eyes on him. Squall pinched his eyebrows and sighed in defeat. "… Fine, I'll do it. But, no one else can know about this."

Laguna, having won their little battle of wits, slapped Squall on the back and began to push him out of his office. "That's the spirit, Squallard!" Squall cringed when he heard that nickname. He hated that nickname. "They should be in study hall. They got detention again, unsurprisingly. Go introduce yourself to them!"

Squall left the office and began the slow and delayed walk toward the study hall in desperate hopes that they'd leave before he made it.

Squall stood outside the classroom door that was deemed study hall. He could hear muffled chatter and music(?) from the other side. Squall guessed they were still in there and still breaking the rules. He sighed. "Some people don't learn…" He knocked on the door before he let himself in to announce his presence.

The room's three occupants paid the door no attention. They were the only ones who dense enough to cause trouble during the first week of school, a thin, fair-skinned brunette, a muscular, tan sandy-blond, and a rather short golden-blond. The three were clustered at a group of desks each holding a different electronic device: the brunette had a blue 3DS out and was playing with the AR cards. The sandy-blond had out a PSP and was playing Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, though he was doing horribly at it considering his various cries of frustration. The golden-blond had his cell-phone out and was updating his Facebook status. Only when the door slid open and heavy footsteps echoed throughout the room that the three took their attention off their devices and onto Squall. The three of them had the same look of confusion on their face and the same thought running through their minds, "_What's he doing here?_"

Before the question could be asked, Squall answered it, "I'm your new student tutor. Your grades last year were less-than-perfect, so the school assigned me to help you study and review." He had the look of absolute boredom on his face. He wished he was anywhere else but here doing this. He would have even preferred to be downtown protesting the war with that Terra girl than be here.

The brunette was the first to find his voice. "Wait, 'tutor us'? Like, 'come to our house and look over our shoulder to make sure we're doing our work' 'tutor us'?" Well, the brunette caught on fast enough in Squall's opinion. Maybe he wasn't totally helpless. The three shot nervous glances at each other. "N-no thanks! We're good!"

The sandy-blond chimed in next. "Yeah, we don't need some stinkin' _pretty boy_ as a tutor!"

"V-Vaan! That's not necessary!" scolded the brunette to the sandy-blond.

The golden-haired blond leaned back with a look of disgust on his face. "I say it should've been a pretty _girl_ instead, like that Garnet chick… maybe Yuna… or even Terr-"

"Zidane!" the brunette interjected again.

"Hey! Terra's _my_ girlfriend, and you know it!" Vaan added.

"Relax, Vaan, I'm just messin' with ya. I can admire a hot babe and _not_ touch, you know," he said playfully with a wink.

"Ahem," Squall interrupted with an obnoxious clearing of his throat trying to wrestle their attention back from each other. "Whether you want it or not, I'm your tutor. Now, let's go. We're heading to Bartz's place since he's the only one of your addresses I know."

"Um… Actually…" Bartz sheepishly interjected. "We kinda… live… together…"

Vaan and Zidane were out of their seats and now hugging each other with Bartz sandwiched in the middle with big grins plastered on their collective faces. "Yup!" started Zidane.

"The three of us are 'brothers'!" finished Vaan.

Squall recoiled in shock. "_Brothers? They look nothing alike!_"

Bartz was waving off their statement in a hurried attempt to explain. "My father adopted the three-er-two of them, so, even though we're not related, we're brothers, see?"

"_Three?_" Squall would have questioned them more about the little Freudian slip Bartz just had, but that might jeopardize his secret mission and decided to pretend he didn't hear it. "So, wait, _all_ of you live on the chocobo ranch on the edge of town?"

"Yup!" Bartz answered with a big grin on his face. "Neat, huh?"

"Yeah…" Squall stated with as much sarcastic inflection he could muster. "Fantastic."

Instead of taking public transportation home like the three always did, Squall decided to drive them back to their place in his car. It was a beat-up old rustbucket of a thing his dad pulled out of his garage until Squall spent a lot of time and money updating it to bring it back to its 1960's roots. The car drove like a dream, and the three were obviously impressed that Squall fixed this beauty of a car himself.

The car ride didn't take too long once Squall got his bearings in this more rural part of the town (directions from Bartz, who was in the passenger's seat, greatly helped). Squall drove up the dirt path that lead to the house on the ranch passing by a man Bartz said was named Gilgamesh who was their farm-hand. After parking his car next to the house, the occupants piled out. Bartz, Zidane, and Vaan headed toward their house while Squall paced around his car making sure the rocks from the dirt path didn't leave any scratches or dings in his paintjob. After a sufficient inspection, Squall was right behind the three. By the time he made it the steps, they were already inside, but they left the door open for him. He walked in and noticed his new surroundings. The door lead to a straight hallway that had the many rooms branching off of it, and a simple wooden staircase leading to the second floor where he assumed the bedrooms were. The first opening on his left led to the living room where Zidane had thrown off his shoes and backpack to relax on the couch and watch some TV. The room on the right appeared to be the dining room. It was mostly taken up by a large table in the room with a rather nice light fixture hanging over it, but the thin layer of dust over the chairs and plates indicated that the room itself wasn't used that much. He continued to walk down that hall. He noticed a small door on his left. Wondering what was on the other side, he opened it. He was greeted with blackness and a wooden staircase leading down. He gathered this was the entrance into the basement. He closed the door again and continued down the hallway. At the end of the hall was another closed door, but the sound of running water indicated someone was in it. He knocked.

"Yo, I'm in here. Can you wait?" From the voice, it sounded like Vaan was using what Squall assumed was the bathroom. So, he turned to the opening on his right. Looking inside, he could see that it was the kitchen. It was rather well furnished. The appliances were very high-end and in chrome giving the kitchen a very modern and classy feel. Bartz was in refrigerator, apparently rummaging for snacks when he emerged with an armful of fruits and a few cans of soda.

"Oh, hey, Squall," Bartz said acknowledging that he realized Squall was here too. "You like Coke?" he asked as he walked over to the counter to put down his load. "You don't mind fruit, do ya?" Squall didn't really bother answering since Bartz was busy at work cutting up the fruits anyway for snacks while humming to himself a tune Squall never heard before but was strangely… familiar. Squall shook off the feeling of déjà vu and took one of the cans of soda on the counter. He opened it and took a nice gulp. Squall opened his mouth to speak, but Bartz interrupted him before he had the chance. "I know; I'll get to work right when I'm done with this. I can't think on an empty stomach! Besides, sugar helps stimulate the brain!"

Squall shrugged and left the kitchen to head back towards the living room. Bartz stopped chopping long enough to watch him walk out and sighed, shaking his head.

Back in the living room, Zidane and Vaan had booted up the Xbox to play some Call of Duty together on the plasma screen TV mounted on the wall. Squall just glared at them from the hallway. "Well, this would explain why their grades are so poor," he muttered to himself. He walked in and stood in front of the TV with arms crossed blocking Vaan and Zidane's view of the action. They recoiled in shock, and then bowed their heads in shame. Zidane cringed, as if fighting off some unpleasant memory. Bartz merrily entered the room with a bowl full of mixed fruits and placed it on the glass coffee table. The group pulled out their work for the evening. Squall decided that they would start with math since that was collectively their weakest subject. Vaan was slacking off instead of doing his work with a very bored look his face. Zidane pretended to be doing his work with his nose in his book, but in reality, he was just surfing the web on his phone again. Bartz was the only one honestly trying, but he just didn't understand the material. Squall could tell he had a loooong night ahead of him.

Hours passed as Squall tried his damnest to get them to concentrate on this what-he-thought-was-simple subject. The sun was starting to set and the bowl once full of fruit was now bare when the material finally started to sink in. Bartz was the first to catch on, mainly because he was actually trying. Once he understood, he passed the information along to Vaan, who quickly began to work on his own problems with new understanding. Zidane was a year behind in education, but the three were in the same math class, and was soon working on his own homework and catching up to the other two. Once they were finished, Squall decided to review their papers to make sure they did it right. While he worked on that, Bartz was back in the kitchen to prepare everyone dinner after frantically apologizing to Squall for keeping him here for so long. Zidane and Vaan took this as an opportunity to pick up their game where they left off.

"_My warriors…"_

Squall looked up from their work and looked around in a confused panic. _"Who said that? That was a woman's voice! There's no woman here!"_ For a moment, he thought he was going crazy until he noticed that Vaan and Zidane weren't playing the game and were looking up at the ceiling as if waiting for something. _"Did…Did they hear it too?"_

"_Another has Awakened. You must hurry!"_

"'_Awakened'? What does that mean?"_ Before he could wonder any further, Vaan and Zidane were up on their feet and running out of the room. Squall was quickly on their tail. He soon saw that Bartz had joined them as they gathered in front of the door that led to the basement. The three looked down the hall and noticed Squall's face of confused panic. The three looked at each other and nodded.

"Squall, come here. We want to show you something," Bartz implored. Squall wasn't sure what to think. He was either going mad, or they were keeping one mother of a secret. He nervously approached the group and watched waiting for whatever it was they wanted to show him. The three outstretched their arms, opened their palms, and closed their eyes, like they were concentrating on something. Squall then saw light began to form in their hands that exploded into various shaped crystals, and Squall nearly jumped out his socks in surprise. Bartz's crystal was purple and seemingly fused of smaller crystal pieces. Zidane's crystal was orange and somewhat shaped like the Washington Monument except for four little crystal spikes jutting out on the sides. Vaan's crystal was a lighter-color orange and shaped like a shooting star, only soaring towards the heavens rather than plummeting toward the Earth. The door seemed to respond to the presence of the crystals and began to glow in a golden light. The door then changed from its humble white-washed, wooden self to a gleaming white-double door with golden trim and other fancy accents that Squall's brain was unable to properly process from the sheer state of shock he was in. The three began to crack up seeing Squall's face.

"Dude, we were exactly the same way when we first saw this!" Vaan exclaimed between the laughs. Bartz and Zidane opened the doors as Vaan pushed Squall through the shining doorway. When Squall was back in control of his sense, he noticed that he was standing in very shallow water. His socks were now sponges soaking up the water until they were saturated. Now uncomfortable with them on, he pulled them off and turned around to throw them back in the hallway only to see the door that he just walked through was no longer there. He looked around in a panic again to see if he could find the door. While he found no door, he noticed there were random white spires, ballistae, a statue with a crescent moon, and what looked like a simple throne dotting the landscape. He noticed that Bartz, Zidane, and Vaan were walking toward the throne and stopped some distance from it to kneel before the empty chair – or at least then empty. Upon their bowing, a glowing sphere of light formed on the throne and erupted into the form of a beautiful young woman with golden blond hair and a white gown with golden decorations. She was one of the most beautiful women Squall has ever seen.

"My Warriors…" Her voice was soothing and motherly but had this otherworldly grace and power that soon had Squall on his knee bowing in respect as well. She looked over at Squall, and gave a light smile that showed both happiness and concern. "And former Warrior…"

"We have arrived, Cosmos, and we do thy bidding," the three answered in unison.

She stood from her throne, and all four returned to their feet, though Squall was a bit embarrassed that he kneeled in the first place. Cosmos turned to her three warriors. "And, why have you brought Squall here?"

The three bowed their heads in shame, but Bartz was the only one to speak. "Uh, sorry, Cosmos. He heard you too, and he was watching us anyway. Not like we could casually explain this away. It might be easier to convince him this was a dream if we have to repress his memories if he saw this place."

"Or to recruit him to aid in your fight?" Cosmos asked, though already knowing the answer.

Bartz just rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He really would have liked to have fought along Squall again. They were good friends when they knew each other during the forbidden war, and Squall was also one of the strongest of the fighters. He would have been a great asset, and they all knew it. But, they also didn't want to force this upon him.

After Squall's shock wore off, he marched over toward the group, grabbed Bartz by his shirt, and pulled him close to Squall's face so that Bartz was staring directly into his steely-blue eyes. Bartz gulped. He knew that look. That was the look Squall gave him right before he was Revolver Driven into a wall or forcefully shoved into his own locker. Bartz was thanking his lucky stars that Squall wasn't Awakened, and they weren't in school.

"Bartz! Where the hell am I? Answer me, or so help me-"

"Squall!" Vaan and Zidane shouted while trying to get Squall to let go of their "brother."

"That is enough, Squall," chided Cosmos. "Please release Bartz, and I shall explain everything you want to know. For now, they are needed elsewhere." Squall, still furious, did release his hold on Bartz's shirt. Bartz, after smoothing out the wrinkles on his shirt, again materialized his crystal. Vaan and Zidane soon followed suit. The three lifted their crystal above their head and were enveloped in a golden light. Squall had to shield his eyes from the blinding rays. When he could see again, he noticed that their outfits completely changed. They were no longer wearing the standard school uniform. Instead, Bartz was wearing a sky-blue, low-cut tank top, a white sash around his waist, a blue and yellow sarong with a golden belt, and oddly stripped leggings. Grey boots that were blue at his ankles and yellow at the toes were his footwear. A golden pauldron decorated in jeweles and beads covered his left shoulder and seemed to be attached to a light blue cape extending from his back. Blue, cloth gauntlets also wrapped in beads covered his hands. To top off his outfit, Bartz wore a silver circlet with a violet jewel and beaded earrings. Vaan wore a black, armored vest held together by the pendant he always wore around school over a white shirt with puffy sleeves and a popped up collar. Tied around his waist was a red sash decorated with strange, turquoise jewels and another sort of charm on his right hip. His pants were black, but on the sides were teal with red, x-shaped ties. These pants tucked into segmented armored boots. He also wore large, silver-ish gauntlets overtop black gloves. Zidane was wearing a dark blue vest and a sleeveless shirt underneath and a cravat with a brooch overtop, blue pants with many pockets that seemed to exaggerate his hips and brown and tan boots that came up to his knees. His waist was decorated in an excess of belts with some sort of weapon holster on his left hip. His hands were covered in grey gloves with oversized blue cuffs and… wait, was that a tail? If Squall didn't see the three of them transform right before his very eyes, he would swear they were different people. The air about them was different too. They had this air of purpose… duty… righteousness. Squall simply stared in awe as the three materialized a brown gate with a red crest in its center, and left this serene place without another word.

When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he jumped a bit startled as he was brought back down to reality. He turned to notice the golden-haired woman, the one they called Cosmos, was the owner of the hand. "Are you ready for what I have to say, Squall?"

**Aaaaand, Chapter 1 done! So, yeah, not your typical High School AU, right? I wanted it more secret identity, super-sentai-ish. What's this? Yes, Bartz, Zidane, and Vaan are already old pros at this. Squall's just learning of their secret that they wouldn't tell Laguna. So, yeah, I guess since I'm comparing this to Power Rangers, think of Cosmos as Zordon and Order's Sanctuary as the Command Center. No, there will be no Zords though. That would be too Power Rangers-ish.**

**Before you chew my head off over Vaan having a crystal when he didn't in Dissidia, I realize this, and I will explain in a later chapter. And, yes, Vaan is wearing his TacticsA2 outfit instead of his FF12 one. I will also explain story-why in a later chapter, but really, would you rather have Vaan running around without a shirt or with one when he looks so much more fly when he does wear one? Yeah, I thought so.**

**And, I hope you guys aren't mad at me for having those three be brothers. I mean, I thought they would make cute family. The three are a lot alike already, and two are adoptees (though Vaan lost his adoptive parents too). I just thought it was kinda natural. Oh, for the thing they don't want to talk about, that will also come at a later chapter. Next chapter will be the fight scene and Cosmos explaining what's going on (Ms. Exposition!).**


	2. Cosmos Explains it All

"_Each battle brings me closer to my goal."_

Cosmos was now seated on her throne while a very annoyed, confused, and frustrated Squall did his best to organize his thoughts to ask the questions that needed to be asked. He was still struggling with everything he saw and was still seeing. He prayed he was dreaming. He tried several times to wake himself up only to be met with the same surreal setting. He wanted to be back home with things and people he knew. He was trembling. He wasn't sure what world was real and what one was the illusion anymore. He even wanted to hug his father and cry, anything to bring him back to reality.

Cosmos looked at him with a mother's concern. She had feared his inflexibility would make it difficult to accept the other realities that were slipping in through the cracks. She bowed her head in shame. "Squall, come here," Cosmos said gently, scooting over to allow Squall to sit next to her.

Squall, numb from his entire reality shattering around him, did as he was told. He sat down next to Cosmos, though his expression was blank and his eyes were hollow, unable to cope with the truth. Cosmos pulled Squall close and gave him a gentle hug, a hug that made Squall feel nostalgic.

Squall flashed back to his last clear memory of his mother. They were playing in a field of yellow flowers, though the memory was so old and hazy, he couldn't clearly remember what kind of flowers they were. He could see the face of his mother, but her face was blurry as he couldn't fully recall her features. He assumed she said something to him since he found himself running toward her outstretched arms. When she made it to her, she hugged him in a gentle and soothing manner and whispered in his ear, "No matter what, I'm always right here. Just think of me when you see these flowers, and you will never be alone."

The memory ended. The tears began to well up in his eyes as he struggled to fight them back. The hug was just what he needed to make him calm down. He rubbed his eyes to fight off the building tears and snorted back the mucus running from his nose.

"S-so, where am I?" he asked, though is voice was hoarse and scratchy from fighting off the urge to cry.

Cosmos smiled gently seeing as Squall had calmed down enough to ask where he was. "You are in my Sanctuary that rests between the various worlds. I can travel to and from the various worlds from here, though I am forbidden to interfere directly in their affairs. The world you all hail from is new, born from the many clashes of harmony and discord in this world between. There, magic does not exist naturally. The people who populate your world are people formed from the memories of the various fighters in the forbidden war, though you live completely different lives. People who were once your enemies live as your neighbors, colleges, peers, and even your leaders. You would have continued to live blissfully unaware of the worlds beyond if something did not… change."

"'Change'?" Now Squall was curious. "What changed?"

Cosmos's eyes narrowed, showing concern and fear. "Someone brought magic to this world. Magic from this world between that is causing many of Chaos's forces to Awaken, or become aware of the worlds beyond and who they are in those worlds."

Squall sat quietly listening to Cosmos's explanation. "I had sensed your world's presence some time ago, but decided to leave it be seeing as it was free of the strife that plagued the other worlds. However, a dark shadow had crept upon your world from this world between and began to restart the forbidden war. I began to frantically search for my old Warriors in hopes they could help. I had first managed to find Cloud and brought him here. However, I am afraid I was too hasty in bringing him here. His mind could not handle Awakening, and he fell into a coma."

"_Cloud? He was a Warrior too?"_ Squall starred at her with his mouth agape. Who else did he know were Warriors in this "forbidden war"?

"And, I am afraid that was not all the consequences of my actions caused, but I think that is not my place to tell. I decided to try and find Warriors who were more flexible, more accepting of their memories from the other worlds."

"And, is that why you turned to those three?"

Cosmos nodded. "Yes. Those three with their flexible minds and open hearts accepted Awakening quite well and have been fighting the Waking forces of Chaos for six months of your time."

Squall shot up on his feet when Comos told him that. "Six months? They've been fighting for that long? How come I've never noticed before?"

"I have enchanted the town so that when someone Awakens, they are transported here, in this world between where no people exist and time does not flow normally, to do battle. The Crystals that the three hold allow them to access their other memories and this realm to fight. When they are victorious, they seal the Warrior of Chaos's memories again, heal them, and return them to your world unaware that anything transpired in the first place."

Squall found himself having new found respect for those three. They were fighting a war against people they knew, people they probably cared about, constantly putting their lives on the line while everyone else around them were ignorant to the harsh reality they knew all too well. And, now, he was aware of it though he wasn't sure for how long.

"Squall, I must ask – Would you want to be Awakened?" Squall looked at Cosmos like she had two heads or something. To be asked so suddenly, especially after he heard what could happen if it went completely wrong, he wasn't sure how to answer. "I understand if you do not want to. It is a terrible burden to bear, and there is no telling if you could handle it. Before you decide one way or the other, at least watch their battle." Cosmos waved her hand. In response, the water from the ground at their feet rose and formed a liquid sphere. In that sphere, Squall could see Bartz, Zidane, and Vaan squaring off against the Awakened Warrior of Chaos…

"CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAAAAAP!" Vaan screamed as he rain from a rain of purple arrows homing in on himself and Zidane. He held is shielded arm above his head to protect himself as he held a sword in his other hand.

"You just had to ask her age!" Zidane said while trying to evade the purple arrows with artful dodges and a few swipes of his pink daggers. "Damnit, Vaan, how many times do I have to tell you? You never **ever** ask a woman her age! Just be glad it wasn't Shantotto, or else she would have used you as her new lab rat to test her ultimate spell!"

"Sorry, but curiosity got the better of me! I couldn't help it!"

The purple arrows were soon followed by a giant, cerulean axe homing in on Vaan. He barely managed to dodge to the right and out of the way. Fortunately, he was fairly familiar with the location they were fighting on: The Sky Fortress Bahamut. He remembered this place from his other set of memories. It was here that he faced off with Vayne and the stray Occuria as they attempted to stop the fortress from destroying Rabanastre and stop the tyrannical ambitions of Vayne and the Occuria. Though he could see his other home below, he knew that this was just a fabrication of the battle arena he knew from the memories of himself and the other fighters from his world. Still, the air above his other home gave him a sense of nostalgia and filed him with energy and confidence.

Squall gasped as he looked through the globe of water at the person they were facing. She had long silver hair that was styled into long horns with her bangs hanging down to her chest. She wore a blood red dress with a v-cut very low to the point it was even showing her naval and a slit that came to her upper thigh. Her red sleeves seemed to merge into purplish, clawed gloves. She wore what Squall thought at first was a feather boa until he realized that that boa was just an extension of her pitch black wings. Her yellow eyes and tribal tattoos topped her sinister appearance. But, that wasn't why Squall gasped. He _knew_ this person.

"Th-That's Ultimecia! That's Rinoa's _mom_! She's a Warrior?"

Cosmos solemnly nodded. "In your world, she is just a simple mother trying to raise her daughter on her own, but in her original world, she was a powerful Sorceress who could manipulate time. She could send her consciousness through time and possess other Sorceresses, so that her consciousness could exist in three different points of time. In doing so, she could achieve Time Compression, a powerful magic that would have condensed time and space into a single point inside of herself. Fortunately, the efforts of a brave soldier and his allies stopped her from completing her spell. It is ironic, but her own meddling in the time stream causes her persecution and even her destruction at the hands of this soldier."

"A-And, who was this soldier?" Squall asked even though, somewhere deep down, he thought he already knew the answer.

Cosmos turned to look at Squall. Squall could see the answer in her eyes. She didn't have to tell him. "That soldier was _me_, wasn't it?" Cosmos silently nodded, affirming Squall's suspicions. This was getting to be too much. First, he saw a glimpse of the real world which was a fantasy world. Then, being told he's some sort of soldier and, apparently, a hero in his "original" world? He began to see why Cloud was in a coma. Squall feared what else his other memories had to share. Maybe it would be better if he woke up thinking this was all a dream…

Bartz was dealing with the crystal life-forms that Ultimecia summoned to gain superior numbers in their battle. Cosmos told Squall that they were called Manikins, and they were failed attempts to clone the Warriors of the many worlds to use in the Cornelian army against their enemies. They had no mind or soul, so they were not very smart nor had any will of their own. They were nothing more than sacrificial pawns in this game of chess. Bartz was using their lack of intelligence and will to his advantage. He would trick many of them into forming a line, then would summon various weapons from thin air and attack them, causing them to shatter upon "death."

While Bartz was dealing with the army of crystal, Vaan and Zidane concentrated on Ultimecia to keep her attention on them and off of Bartz. Zidane attempted a graceful spinning approach from below while Vaan summoned a spear and rapidly twirled it over his head. Ultimecia dodged backwards and summoned three magical, pinkish-purple spears around her catching Zidane and sending him flying. Vaan retaliated by summoning a greatsword and charging up a mighty swing. Ultimecia shot out several orange swords, but Vaan dashed through them and swung hard at her twice, knocking her through a pillar and into the wall of the cockpit. Zidane was now stuck in the throngs of the Manikins and had no choice but help Bartz break every last one of them while Vaan now had to deal with Ultimecia alone.

Ultimecia pealed herself off the wall and wiped the dust off her sleeve, as if she felt no pain. Vaan wanted to do nothing more than to wipe that smug look off of her face. "Kome now, child. Do you really expekt to harm me? I am a Sorceress! You are nothing more than a street rat that got caught up in some little adventure. You may have freed time from your Gods, but you will not free time from me!"

Vaan sighed and rolled his eyes. "Blah-blah-blah, I get it. You like time," he said as a light blue crest with runes in it appeared over his head. "SHUT UP ALREADY!" he exclaimed as he punched the crest which erupted in water. Huge spheres of water rained down over Ultimecia as she was pelted by the orbs before the last one burst and sent her careening into the floor. Vaan flicked his nose with his thumb in a cocky manner and pulled out his Crystal, thinking victory was his.

"Do not think you have won, boy," Ultimecia spat as she struggled to return to her feet.

"You can barely stand. What'chya gonna do? Bore me to death with your 'time' speeches?"

"Hmph," she snorted as she returned to her feet. "This battle is just beginning. I shall show you what happens to those who dare face a Sorceress during the witching hour!"

"You just can't help yourself, can you?" he asked sarcastically, noting her use of a time pun again.

"You won't be laughing when you see what I have in store for you!" She pulled out a white crystal in the shape of a bell with four wings sprouting all over it. Vaan knew what she was triying to do and tried to dash at the crystal to stop her. She crushed it between her hands and absorbed the energy from the crystal. Her entire being filled with strength. Vaan was too late as she junctioned Griever to herself, causing her power to grow and her appearance to change. She now sported a lion like mask over her face. Her wings changed from all black feathers to white inner feathers. Her normal arms were folded across her chest while she sported black lion-like arms where they once were. Vaan looked on in horrified shock. Ultimecia began to cast a powerful spell on Vaan, the Time Crush. Vaan desperately tried to get her to stop, but her increased power also allowed her to summon more Manikins. The Manikins absorbed every blow he meant for Ultimecia. He pushed hard against the hoard, but it wasn't enough. Ultimecia successfully cast her spell, and Vaan was trapped in a sphere of compressed time, completely defenseless. Bartz and Zidane tried their best to make it to their trapped "brother," but their own throng of Manikins made getting to him impossible. Ultimecia began to charge up a sphere of magical energy that took the shape of her original world. She allowed the energy to build and grow. She was going to obliterate Vaan in one, fell swoop.

"Vaan!" Squall called out, though it was as futile as his dad yelling at the TV telling people on game shows the answer to the question or the price of a prize. He looked on in horror as someone he was just getting to truly know was about to die a horrible death, and no one would believe him if they told him. He watched her charge the sphere of energy, completely powerless – or was he?

Squall turned to Cosmos. "Cosmos, Awaken me!"

Cosmos turned to Squall, scanning his steely-blue eyes for a sign of doubt. She could see that somewhere in his heart, Squall was unsure of his decision. "Squall, know this: Once you are Awakened, your life will never be the same. You will constantly put your life on the line here and fight at a moment's notice. Any semblance of a normal life will disappear, and your relationships with people will change. You may not be able to have a normal relationship ever again." She continued to scan the brunette's eyes, looking to see if the doubt still persisted. "Is that what you wish?"

Squall began to think heavily on those words. He recalled the times his father tried to get him to accept his new step-mother that always failed horribly. He remembered the many dates he had with Rinoa, his high-school sweetheart. He reflected on the many memories that he built there… Memories of a fake world and a fake life. He didn't want to live a lie anymore, even if it meant that everyone else around him still would. He didn't want to sit on the sidelines powerless as three of the bravest individuals he ever met had already agreed to the very thing Cosmos warned him about to dissuade him, not when all those three had left in the world were each other. He turned to her, all previous doubt gone. He was ready, ready to face the world for what it really was. "Yes. Awaken me."

Cosmos nodded her head, confident that Squall was, in fact, ready. She stretched her hand and concentrated her energies into it. A golden light began to well up and take the shape of a silvery crystal that looked like the many feathers of a folded wing. "Take your Crystal, Squall. It will guide you to your Awakening."

Squall reached out and touched his Crystal without hesitation. Then, everything went dark…

**I think this is a good place to end chapter 2, no? Yes, Squall's Awakening! Team 5, 8, 9 reunion in the works! What's this? Squall has a step-mom and Laguna remarried? Ultimecia is Rionoa's mom? Cosmos tried to Awaken Cloud? Next, I'll be telling you Sephiroth's his dad and Jenova's his mom…**

**Next chapter, we'll see how Squall Awakens and his possible battle against Ultimecia!**


	3. Squall Leonhart has joined the Party!

**Just to be clear, since this is a recent fix, Squall does not have his face-scar at the moment. Don't worry; he will get it, though.**

"_If fantasy is the reality, then is reality a fantasy?"_

When Squall became aware of surroundings again, he stood in what appeared to be complete blackness. There was nothing here except for him… and… him? As if looking into a mirror, he saw himself, though, the "himself" he saw wasn't a perfect reflection. He had a scar across the bridge of his nose, for one. He wore a black leather ensemble, black leather coat with a white, furry collar, black leather pants with fluffy, white trimmings on the sides, black leather gloves, black leather boots, a black leather sash draped over his right-hip, and tons and tons of brown, leather belts. The leatherless Squall wondered if the other Squall ever got hot in that get-up. The only fabric not made of leather was his shirt. A silver pendant with a lion's head and thorny-cross at the bottom topped his outfit. Looking at his other self, Squall could feel the other Squall's pride. It was the animalistic pride of a lion defending his kingdom and those who dwell within it.

The Squall clad in leather extended his hand, inviting his mirror-companion to take it. The Squall of the magic-less world did as he was silently instructed and took hold. When he did, the memories of his other-self began to flood into his mind. His first memory was of a silvery sword flying through the air… no, wait… it was a gun… wait, it was both? Right, now he remembered. It was a "Gunblade," a powerful, yet difficult-to-use weapon from that world, landing with his blade in the ground. It had an etching of the same lion "he" wore around his neck and a keychain of its head. He was in a wasteland. The skies were dark and the cloud hung heavy in the air. He grabbed the sword and charged at his enemy, "his" body moving as he watched from the backseat. That's when he saw his opponent, it was _Seifer_, wearing a sandy-gray trench coat, a blue vest with a white-cross-like lining, and black pants, gloves, and boots wielding what also looked like a Gunblade, though it looked different from "Squall's." The two were entangled in fierce combat, neither side giving an inch. Then, Seifer raised his hand and blasted a burst of fire at "Squall," knocking "him" off his feet. Seifer approached slowly and raised his sword above his head. Squall screamed for "himself" to move, but it was too late. Seifer raked the blade across his face, giving the other Squall that scar. He remembered the pain and screamed in agony as it reverberated in his mind. But, the other Squall, the soldier, the SeeD-to-be, took blade in hand, and, with one big swing that sparked along the ground, gave Seifer a similar, yet mirrored, scar across his own nose in retaliation.

Squall held his face in his hands as he tried to stifle the pain from the memory that he "relived." _"So, that's how 'he' got that…"_ he thought to himself. Other memories flashed into his mind. The memories of Riona… Whenever a memory of her flashed into his mind, they would fill him with a cozy warmth that would make him long for his own Riona. He also recalled the time at the Arc de Triumph, no, wait, that's not what it was. It just _looked_ like it, watching Edea, a powerful Sorceress, as she usurped control of Galbadia after impaling the president with her bare hands. Having rescued Rinoa from the statues that Edea brought to life to devour her, Rinoa, Irvine, and "himself" confronted her, only to have "himself" impaled by a humongous chunk of ice. The pain was excruciating. It consumed his consciousness as several other memories came and went. The next memory he could focus on as he finally batted back the pain was the Battle of the Gardens and confronting Edea once again in the Garden's auditorium. Edea tried her best to stop "Squall" and his companions, but, in the end, Squall was victorious. Only, the victory was short-lived, as Rinoa fell into a coma. Mixed in "his" memories were memories of, wait, LAGUNA'S? Apparently, his father was a soldier in this world in the past, and his consciousness would be sent back in time to relive parts of Laguna's life. As if it was confusing enough he now had two sets of memories, his second set had a hidden third.

The orphanage, his confession of love toward Rinoa, their reunion in space, finding the Ragnarok, Adel, the first stages of Time Compression, and the final showdown with Ultimecia - they were all here. Then, memories of the time lost started. The many wars in this world between, his meeting with Laguna in the flesh, traveling in one war with Zidane, Vaan, and Bartz, then traveling in the next with just Zidane or Bartz. Wait, where was Vaan during that time? He never saw him or Lighting or Yuna… What happened during the previous war? He couldn't remember it clearly. The last war was the only one he really remembered, getting the same Crystal that Cosmos just gave him, receiving Bartz's good luck charm, traveling with Zidane to rescue him, giving the charm back to give Bartz the courage to fight and fulfilling his unintentional promise to him…

"Heh," he chuckled to himself, "It seems I'm keeping my 'promise' again, Bartz."

He met up with Cloud, Tidus, and the other ten Warriors of the last war as they made their way back to Cosmos's Sanctuary… only to be met with Chaos and the death of Cosmos. He felt himself fading away, his consciousness mingled with the thoughts of the other Warriors… The despair, the sadness… the hope, the perseverance! They brought themselves back from true darkness, and confronted the chaos once more, this time, defeating it for good and ending the endless war. He watched as Tidus was the first to return to his world, departing with words of wisdom, then Zidane, then, himself, returning to the moment when he sliced Ultimecia with the final blow, freeing Time and Space from her spell. He wandered through time, looking for the time he was supposed to return to. He met with Edea as Ultimecia transferred her Sorceress powers to her, and Squall talked to his Matron about the Gardens and SeeD. Realizing he was too far in the past, he re-entered the time stream, only getting further and further lost in the past, his memories fading as the darkness closed in…

When he awoke, he found himself looking into the eyes of Rinoa as the smell of flowers and her perfume filled his nose with wonderful scents. She hugged him so tight, Squall couldn't breathe for a moment, or maybe it was just the effect that she had on him. They celebrated their victory over the Sorceress with a party in the Garden, but he wasn't interested in the party. He was with the person he cared about most as they kissed beneath the stars…

The memories felt like he was watching a movie with himself as the main character, watching as the actors played their parts faithfully and dutifully as their ultimate destinies unfolded before his eyes. It felt like hours, maybe even days, for the memories to fully play out, only, once he was "back" in the Sanctuary, it was, apparently, only an instant as Vaan was trapped in the same sphere of compressed time, Ultimecia was still charging her attack, and Zidane and Bartz were still helpless to stop it. He looked down to notice that he was wearing the same outfit from his memories, that black, leather ensemble with his Gunblade already in his hands. He felt the power from his memories flow through every fiber of his being. It was a strange sensation, to be sure. It was like a combination of electricity flowing through his body, but it was more like massaging it rather than shocking it. Like, the energies were preparing his body for what he was about to do. Looking at Cosmos, she nodded at him, silently telling him that Awakening was successful. On instinct, Squall took his Crystal in hand, and materialized a brownish gate with a red crest. He touched the crest, and was magically transported inside.

Cosmos watched as Squall disappeared into the Gate, and the Gate disappeared shortly behind him. "Good luck, Squall. May the light shine upon you."

Ultimecia had just about finished her spell when, out of the blue, the brown gate appeared overhead. She looked up as a black and silver blur charged at her, slicing her spell in two. Spinning around, she looked with a satisfied smirk as a familiar enemy landed behind her, spinning his blade around and bringing it to a rest on his shoulder. He, too, spun around. The familiar ice-blue eyes with the intensity and ferocity of a lion glared at her. Then, madly, she began to laugh a sinister cackle, almost pleased that Squall had just came to the rescue.

"Squall! How good of you to kome! You wish to die along with your kompanions?" she said, raising her hand into the air, materializing the purple arrows all around Squall and Vaan, still trapped in the bubble of compressed time.

In response, Squall just huffed. "Sorry, but I have something more important to do." He charged his sword with orange energy, causing the blade to grow several times its size, and swung one big over-head slash crashing the energy infused blade into the ground.

Ultimecia simply teleported to an area above the sphere of arrows. "Foolish, boy. Did you forget I kan kontrol time? Your tricks have no effekt on me!"

"Who said I was aiming for _you_?" Ultimecia looked in horror as the sphere of compressed time was sliced open by Squall's attack, returning the flow of time to normal to the person trapped inside, though missing Vaan himself. Squall exhaled a sigh of relief as Vaan landed on the ship on his back with a thud. Sure, "he" was a pro at this, but this was this Squall's first time using this weapon. While he trusted his memories to guide him, he still wasn't sure he could pull it off effectively. Fortunately, not a hair was harmed on Vaan, well, other than his back from his landing.

"Argh… My back. I'm going to feel that tomorrow," Vaan sighed as he rubbed his sore spine. "Guys, be a bit gentler next… time?" Wait, his savior… No, it couldn't be! "S-Squall?"

"Don't get too comfortable yet, Vaan"

Vaan then noticed the field of purple arrows tracking their every move like missiles ready to fire. One wrong move, they would launch and strike at any available parts of their being. They weren't going to escape this bubble from the inside. The only option was to stand their ground and deflect every single bolt. Squall and Vaan moved towards the center of the sphere, back to back, carefully studying the arrows, waiting for the first volley.

Ultimecia spat with disgust as the SeeD commander and Godsbane prepared themselves for the coming onslaught. "Very well, Squall. If you wish to fight, then fight!" she cackled, snapping her fingers. The arrows responded and began to fly at their targets with a kamikaze's reckless abandon for his personal welfare. Squall started by scattering magical gunpowder around himself and Vaan in a ring that then welled up into red spheres. Pulling the trigger on Squall's Gunblade, the spheres exploded outwards, deflecting the first wave of magical blasts while leaving the two of them in the circle unharmed. Vaan then charged out from the explosion's smoke, shield first, deflecting another coming volley, and then slashing away a few more arrows with his sword. Squall infused his sword with the orange energy again, crashing it forward, deflecting a few shots, and dispersing some of the ones that have yet to fire. Vaan switched to his spear again and twirled it overhead rapidly, deflecting more shots. The two of them continued like this for what felt like hours, though in reality, it was only a few minutes.

"Tch. DIE, KUR-SED SeeD!" Ultimecia swore as she gathered magical energy in her hands which formed a crest of energy beneath the feet of Squall and Vaan. Now they were in a bind. If they stopped to avoid the energies erupting from the crest, the arrows would find their mark, but, if they continued to block the arrows, the energies would rip them apart.

"DID YOU FORGET ABOUT US, ULTIMECIA!"

"What?" was all she managed to say before Zidane, cloaked in a pink energy, charged spinning at Ultimecia as Bartz charged up a blue, spear-like weapon with white energy and sliced the air. Zidane's energy-infused daggers ripped into Ultimecia's side, but when he was done with his attack, the crescent-shaped shard of white energy flew just over Zidane and cut through Ultimecia's mid-section. The crest and arrows plaguing Squall and Vaan were dispelled in an instant as Ultimecia fell to the ground, gasping for air.

Vaan, Zidane, and Bartz quickly sprinted over to where Ultimecia laid taking out their Crystals along the way. They needed to make sure she would stay down long enough to be put back to Sleep.

"Ultimecia! Return to the shadows from whence you came! Return to Sleep!" the three chanted in unison as they held their Crystals overhead. The Crystals sparkled then illuminated in a beautiful golden light as they focused the beams on Ultimecia.

Ultimecia wailed in agony. "Kur-sed… Warriors… I will not… Sleep peacefully!" she threatened, using the last of her waning energy to materialize three, small, cerulean axes and throw them at the three, but her fading consciousness caused her attack to miss the three.

"Your eyesight must be fading in your old age, Ultimecia," Vaan retorted.

Ultimecia smirked as the last of her power was fading away. "Who said… I was aiming for you?"

At first, they didn't understand what she meant as Ultimecia lost consciousness until they heard a shrill scream from behind them. Turning around, they noticed Squall was clutching his face in pain, blood dripping down from beneath his gloved hand. Squall fell to his knees. That pain… It was the same as the pain from his other memories, the pain of the scar that defined the other "him's" face. He heard and felt metallic footsteps running across the ship, getting closer to him. He forced open one eye through the pain and noticed that Bartz was standing before him, taking off his cape to help soak up the blood pouring from his face. They applied pressure to the area to try and stop the bleeding as Squall heard Bartz whisper the word "cure." Squall felt his body fill with energy as the pain in his face and other minor scratches began to subside. He remembered this spell. As its name suggested, it was a healing spell, a minor one though. There were more powerful spells for more powerful healing if need be.

They returned to Cosmos's Sanctuary with the sleeping Ultimecia slung over Vaan's back. However, their attention was on Squall as he still held Bartz cape to his face to make sure there was no bleeding.

"Guys, I'm telling you: I'm fine!" Squall tried, and failed, to convince the three.

"We can be concerned, can't we?" Bartz answered.

"And, do we need an excuse to help a friend?" Zidane added, spurting his trademark mantra.

He removed the blood-soaked cape from his face. The once sky-blue and white cape now had an ugly blotch of brownish-red in the middle of it, not that Bartz seemed to care though. "S-Sorry, Bartz."

"Nah, it's alright. I can wash that out." He took his cape back and reached down to the dagger on his hip. For all the time that "Squall" knew "Bartz," "he" never saw "him" use that dagger before.

"Bartz, what are you-"

"Sssh! Hold still!"

Bartz's head was now uncomfortably close next to Squall's, as he was angling the dagger to, seemingly, try and look at their reflection. When Bartz was trying to adjust the dagger for the right angle, the few moments it was reflecting their lower half, he noticed that their reflections were wearing their school outfit, without shoes and socks in Squall's case, just like when they entered. Squall was surprised, but it didn't seem to phase Bartz's one bit. Bartz's face twisted into a confused frown.

"Huh… It's still there…" Once the dagger was apparently at the angle Bartz wanted, Squall noticed that the scar from his other self was now on his normal face, exactly the same. It was almost unnerving. "I guess some things are just meant to be, huh, Squall?"

"Easy for you to say…" He answered as Bartz put that small dagger back in its hilt. "What's that for, anyway?"

"Oh, this?" referring to the dagger. "It was a gift from 'my' dad. It's a hunting knife. Can't really use something like this for fighting. But, the other me really cherished it, so 'I' would always keep it around."

"Huh, so that's its story."

Cosmos smiled at them from her throne as the four of them approached, laying Ultimecia flat on her back before the throne then bowing before their Goddess. Cosmos rose from her throne and walked gracefully over to Ultimecia. Gathering golden light in her hands, she held it over Ultimecia. Like a magnet attracting metal, something began to rise up from Ultimecia into Cosmos's glowing hand. A dark sphere encompassing a black crystal shard welled up from Ultimecia and into the light, the dark energy dissipating leaving only the black crystal fragment.

"Is that… a Crystal shard?" Squall asked.

Cosmos solemnly nodded. "Yes. This is what is causing the Warriors of Chaos to Awaken. Shards of a black Crystal… The power of crystallized discord."

As the dark crystal was removed from its host, the four of them stored their own power away to be called upon at another time. However, when Squall looked down at the shallow pool of water, he saw his leather-clad self starring back at him. Looking at the reflections of others, he noticed that theirs also didn't match. Bartz, Zidane, and Vaan were wearing their school clothes, but their reflections were wearing the clothes of their heroic selves. And Ultimecia, the normal straight, silver-haired maiden that he was used to seeing, appeared as her Sorceress self in her reflection.

"Yeah, we've got _a lot_ of explaining to do," Bartz stated pointing out that which was oh-so-painfully obvious as he noticed Squall's confused and shocked face.

**Hurray for Squall! First battle and he's already back in the swing of things! And, oh, look! Now "normal" Squall has his scar too. Darn you, Ultimecia. Yes, this Squall's a bit more expressive since he grew up with daddy-"dearest" and his big sis. He still likes to act cool though. It makes him all the more popular. And, hey! Bartz's dagger has a reason for existence that's not decoration.**

**So, in case it's not clear, when they transform, essentially, their reflections swap places. If they're in their normal form, they see their Warrior-selves in their reflections, and vice-versa if they're in their Warrior form.**

**Next chapter, explanation and flash-backs!**


	4. Family Ties

"_If one does not remember something happening, can one say it ever happened at all? For, what is history but the documentation of someone's memories?"_

After Cosmos returned Ultimecia to their world, fully healed and memories repressed, the party of four returned through the door that first brought them here after waving good-bye to Cosmos. The scene awaiting them on the other side was exactly as they left it. The game was right were Zidane and Vaan paused it. Bartz's meal of salmon and rice was cooking in the oven. Squall's task of grading homework was interrupted as half-a-red "x" covered one of Vaan's incorrect answers. Even the time: It was the same as they left, despite being gone for an hour, at least.

The three brothers picked up right where they left off, like nothing ever happened in the first place. Squall decided to follow Bartz into the kitchen as Bartz kept his eye on the cooking rice. The salmon was in the oven for that entire time. It was no wonder the house didn't burn down, but, then again, for all time knew, they only went into the "basement" for a few seconds.

Bartz turned to notice Squall was now in the room too. "Something the matter?" Squall simply turned his gaze away and scratched his head in confusion. "Oh, right. Cosmos told you time does not flow normally there, right?"

"Well, yeah, but hours there only equating to seconds here? 'Time does not flow normally' is a bit of an understatement."

"Haven't you ever watched Digimon?" Bartz asked with a chuckle. In Squall's opinion, Bartz was perhaps a little _too_ accepting of this whole thing. "Hey, Squall?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Well, it's getting kinda late… And it gets pretty dark along these country roads… And, well, we have a lot to talk about and stuff…"

"Bartz, spit it out already."

"He's asking you to spend the night, Squall," Zidane said from the doorway, apparently empty stomach and good smelling food dragged him from the living room to the kitchen.

"Bartz!" Apparently, Vaan couldn't resist the aroma of cooking food either. "Is dinner done yet? I'm staaaaarving! A Warrior's gotta keep his strength up!"

"Almost, almost! Gosh!" he said as he stirred the rice a bit more to make sure it was cooking evenly. "But, yeah, Squall, would you be interested? We have a spare room, so you don't have to worry about somewhere to sleep, and I think my uniform should fit you fine."

Squall hated to admit it, but Bartz made several good points. He shrugged and sighed. Yet again, somehow, Bartz has managed to convince him into doing something he wouldn't normally do. "Fine, but let me call my folks first and let them know."

"AWESOME!" the three brothers shouted excitedly in unison. Squall simply rolled his eyes as he walked out of the room to the living room for his private conversation, but, as he left, he heard Bartz mumble something about "swapping manly stories" and "making waffles in the morning." Squall smacked his face with his hand in the "I can't believe he just said that" manner. _"Aren't mimes supposed to be quiet?"_

Squall pulled up the contacts list on his iPhone and called home. He put the phone to his ear as he heard the other side ring, waiting for someone to pick up. After three buzzes, the other side finally responded.

"Hello?" a young, female voice asked. It wasn't the voice Squall was hoping for, but it was nice to hear that it was his big sister, Ellone, on the other end.

"Sis? It's me. Is Dad home?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Squall. Dad's out." Great. "But, Claudine's here. I'll put her on the line." Oh, even better. Claudine Famfrit Loire, his step-mom, the woman that thought she had the nerve to replace his mother. He _hated_ her. He hated her and her blasted snakes and her futile attempts at being his new mom. He swore he would never **ever** acknowledge her as his mom. He grumbled to himself. Now, he had another reason not to go home: She was home, and Dad wasn't.

Squall could hear the phone being passed along to other hands as an older woman's voice, both soothing and seductive, rang in his ears. Squall couldn't help but cringe. "Yes, Squall?"

"Uh, it's getting kinda late here. The boys I'm tutoring offered me a room. I think I'm going to take up their offer. Bartz said he has a spare uniform that should fit me, so clothes aren't an issue."

"Alright, dear. I'll let your father know when he gets in. Just be sure to take the boys into school tomorrow as a thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. I will," he said as he hung up the phone without a good-bye.

"Good-bye, Squall. I love y-," Claudine began until she realized Squall hung up the phone. She sighed as she turned hers off, shaking her head.

Squall, having accomplished his mission, walked back into the kitchen, stuffing his phone in his pocket. Well, his mood was officially soured, not that it was going to take much to push his buttons at the moment. With the crazy day he just had, he doubted his conversation with Dad would have gone much better. He noticed Bartz was now serving everyone dinner, salmon with a slice of lemon on top over a bed of sautéed onions and white rice. He noticed an empty chair and full plate between Bartz and Zidane at the round table, apparently inviting him to sit there. Squall felt his stomach rumble and his mouth water. Okay, he had to admit, that smelled delicious. No wonder Zidane and Vaan were drawn here.

Squall took his seat dutifully and took fork in hand. He quickly glanced at the others. Zidane and Vaan, who was sitting across from him, were shoveling rice and salmon into their waiting mouths like they haven't eaten in months, while Bartz squeezed the lemon slice that topped the salmon, letting the juice splash over the salmon and rice. Squall followed suit. He began to cut up the salmon with his knife, but, being so well cooked, it basically fell apart to the touch. So, he decided to just use his fork to cut it instead. Taking a bit of salmon, rice, and onions, he placed it gingerly in his mouth.

_"Oh. My. God."_ The various flavors of the foods danced among his taste-buds. He could taste salt, pepper, and a pinch of thyme on them. The white rice soaked up the flavors of the salmon and the lemon juice, with just a hint of lime. It was a simple and unassuming dish, but it was simply divine! After he managed to regretfully place the first bite down his throat, he turned to Bartz.

"Bartz! This is delicious! Where'd you learn this recipe?"

Bartz looked down at his plate, now using his fork to play with his rice rather than eating it. "My brother taught it to me…"

"Hm?" Squall looked at the other two. He couldn't believe either one of them had the ability to cook. However, the two of them stopped their frantic eating and were looking at their plates in the same manner that Bartz was.

"Our… other brother," Bartz managed to blurt out.

_"'Other brother'? There's another?"_ Squall thought looking around. _"That's odd. He's not here…"_

"That's because he's never coming back," Vaan answered, apparently guessing at Squall's thoughts.

Zidane got up, leaving his partially-eaten meal that he obviously loved so much unfinished. "I'm not hungry anymore…"

"Me neither," Vaan added, getting up himself.

Squall looked at the two of them, obviously having said something he probably shouldn't have. "G-Guys, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's not your fault, Squall. We were going to tell you shortly anyway," Bartz said as he placed another piece of dinner in his mouth, though, it seemed he was only feeding himself now and not really tasting it. "It has a lot to do with what's happening now."

Bartz and Squall finished up their meal in their awkward silence as Vaan and Zidane continued to play Call of Duty in the living room from the sounds of explosions and gunfire Squall could hear. After they finished, Bartz took all of their plates to the counter to wash them. He placed the uneaten portions of food into Tupperware for later consumption and stuffed them in the chrome, double-door fridge. Squall decided to help Bartz wash up, not uttering a word. Bartz looked at him, wondering what he was doing but didn't verbally question him. Bartz sighed and shrugged his shoulders and continued washing plates as Squall dried them, taking visual cues from Bartz to determine where the various pieces of china, silverware, and glass belonged.

After the last plate was put away and the two were drying their hands, Squall was the first to finally speak. "What was he like? Your other brother, I mean."

"Reks?" Oh, so that was his name. "He was the best big brother ever. A real hero, too. Actually, he's Vaan's actual big brother."

"What happened to him?"

"He died… fighting in the war. Not 'that' one, but this one."

Oh, right, the war that Terra was protesting so passionately, the war on "terrorism." Was this why? Did she already know that Vaan lost his last blood relative in the world?

_"Hmph. Some 'friend' I am."_ Admittedly, he only really "knew" them for a few hours since he was forced to, but his other self knew them for much longer. To see them so hurt and suffering so deeply, it was unbearable.

"How'd it happen? I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but-"

"No, it's okay, Squall. I said we were going to explain everything, and that's, unfortunately, part of it."

Squall wondered what he meant until he remembered something Cosmos said to him: "… I am afraid that was not all the consequences my actions caused…"

After they finished in the kitchen and got their homework in a presentable state, the four headed upstairs to ready themselves for bed. There were three bedrooms and one bathroom. The largest bedroom that sat over the living room belonged to their now-deceased father, Dorgann Klauser. The three treated it like sacred ground, so Squall didn't dare step inside to look around. The next room over apparently belonged to the three of them with their three beds crammed in the same room. Their room was a mess. There were so many clothes and so much trash haphazardly thrown about that Squall couldn't see the wood floor beneath it all. It was also fairly obvious which bed belonged to which one. Bartz's bed was covered in Chocobo pillows and a chocobo blanket. The wall above Zidane's bed was covered in posters of female supermodels. Finally, on a dresser by Vaan's bed were tons of model planes of various makes and sizes. He was beginning to think Bartz was right. Apparently, some things _are_ just meant to be.

Bartz showed him to the last bedroom. Right away, Squall noticed something about it was off. Namely, half the room was empty. Despite this, the room was very well kept. The bed was simple and unassuming. There was only one poster in the room, hung above the bed. It was a poster encouraging whoever looked at it to join the army. Sitting on the night stand was a simple brown frame containing a picture. There was a grayish-brown haired, well-fit, mustached and bearded man smiling the same big, goofy grin that would usually be plastered on Bartz's face. Squall surmised that was Dorgann, and it was obvious that he was Bartz's dad. In front of the beaming dad stood the trio he knew all too well, although a bit younger and unable to sit still for their picture (unsurprisingly). However, behind the three, posing quietly with a gentle smile on his face, stood an older sandy-blond-haired and tan youth. His smile was gentle, but full of confidence, like he was fully ready for the world and knew his place in it.

"So, that's Reks, huh?" Just looking at the picture, he could see why his death hurt them so. He never even met the guy, but Squall already admired him. It was obvious he cared deeply for his family. He enlisted to protect them from the harshness of the world. Looking at him, he remembered something someone said in a dream… or, maybe a dream of a dream. He couldn't remember where he heard it or who said it, but looking at Reks, he could hear the phrase ring loud and clear in his mind.

_"__If I could protect but one person from war's horror... then I would bear any shame. I would bear it proudly."_

Squall wished he could remember who it was that said that and where he heard it from. Regardless, that phrase seemed to fit Reks to a "T," though, he would be sad to know that he couldn't protect his three brothers from war finding them. The more Squall thought about it, the more it seemed to ring true: Some things are just meant to be. From Squall's scar, to their relationships, to fighting to prevent the destruction of the world, it's all happened before. Squall placed the frame back on the nightstand and made his leave. While he was honored that the three let him sleep in such a noble place, Squall himself didn't feel right about it and decided the couch would be better. But, now wasn't the time for sleep. Now was the time for explanations.

As Squall carefully climbed over the mountain of garbage and dirty socks toward the closet bed, which just happened to be Vaan's, Bartz feverently apologized for their collective messy room and swore they'd spend the weekend cleaning it, to which Zidane and Vaan moaned in response. As Bartz scolded the other two, Squall noted how much more mature this Bartz was than the Bartz "he" knew. Perhaps the death of Reks forced Bartz to mature and take over the role of big brother, or maybe the other Bartz was always this mature and just didn't like to show it.

Vaan threw his arms up in frustration, then slamming them back on his legs, causing the whole bed to shake which snapped Squall out of thoughts. "Ugh, fine! We'll clean this up. God!"

Bartz folded his arms and straightened his back, proud of himself for his accomplishment. Vaan merely muttered various unrepeatable words under-his-breath.

Turning his attention to Squall that also occupied Vaan's bed, Bartz asked, "So, Squall, what do you want to know first?"

Squall had many questions running through his mind. _"When did you Awaken?" "What happened to your brother?" "Where's your dad?"_ But, there was one question that he felt he needed to ask before he could ask the others.

"How did you three, er, four become brothers in the first place?"

Bartz was the one who volunteered to recount the tale, though a bit shocked that Squall chose that question first. "Ah, well, as you may have guessed, I'm Dorgann's son by blood. My mother's name was Stella. Anyway, my dad was an archeologist." Squall noted the use of the past tense when referring to them. Squall assumed they died too. "He would often travel to faraway lands to find some ancient treasure or solve a forgotten mystery. I always remembered him coming home with some new treasure from the many places he visited. Mother always took care of me while he was gone.

Well, one day, Dad came home with an unusual treasure, a young, blond-haired boy, orphaned in the jungle and was being raised by monkeys. My parents decided to raise him as their own and as my brother. They named him 'Zidane.'"

Squall, shocked, looked over at Zidane who was scratching the back of his head sheepishly and blushing. Apparently, it was Zidane's turn to continue the story. "I was a bit of a problem. Having lived with monkeys my entire life before then made adjusting to human life difficult. But, Mom's gentle touch (Squall could swear he heard something about her beautiful body under Zidane's breath) and Bartz's caring nature eventually got me to accept my new family. We were as happy as we could be, though, happiness was fleeting…"

Bartz picked the story back up. "When I was about eight, my mother and I suddenly became very ill. We apparently caught a deadly bug from the treasures that my dad brought back. My father was safe from the various foreign diseases since he was regularly vaccinated, and Zidane had built up immunities to them from his own stay in the jungle. The doctors didn't think either of us would pull through. I almost didn't. My organs started to shut down. It was only because of a blood transfusion from my dad that I managed to pull through. They couldn't find a suitable match for my mom, and well, she didn't make it.

After I fully recovered from the little ordeal, Dad started taking Zidane and me with him on his travels. We saw many different places, and we learned many different things. When I was ten, we were sent to the desert to investigate the ruins of the lost kingdom of Rabanastre."

Squall shot back and looked at Vaan sitting next to him. _"R-Rabanastre? Isn't that-"_

Vaan then continued the story. "Well, that's where Dad found Reks and me, barely alive. Reks was in even worse shape than me: Half starved to death and severely dehydrated on the verge of heat stroke. Reks gave me all the food and water he could find after the war destroyed our village and separated us from our parents. At first, I didn't want anything to do with the Americans after they destroyed my home, but the way Dorgann talked to me, I could tell that he didn't want to hurt us. The doctors fixed us up and were shocked that Reks managed to pull through it all. After that, we met those two, and well, we were fast family."

"Though my Arabic was _terrible_," Zidane added with a chuckle.

"Well, after our family grew by two more, Dad decided to settle down." It was apparently Bartz's turn at the story again. "He bought this run-down ranch from Gilgamesh and called it our new home. However, Dad let Gilgamesh stay on the ranch to help raise the chocobo we breed. Apparently, we were naturals and soon had a very successful ranch and prize-winning birds."

"And, by 'we,' he means him," Zidane corrected.

"People would come from all over the _world_ to try and get their hands on a Lix Ranch chocobo!" Vaan announced proudly with a large, circular sweep of his arms to emphasize the fact.

"We swore Bartz could _talk_ to the birds the way he understood them," added Zidane.

"Guys! I didn't do anything! Really!"

"What are you talking about? You pretty much single-handedly put this town on the map!"

Well, it was true. Because of this ranch, the small town of Dissidia exploded in a few short years into a busy suburbia as people from all over started to move here to escape the hustle-and-bustle of the big city. Squall's family was no exception. It would figure it was Bartz's doing.

"Come on, Bartz. Admit it! We'd be totally floundering around here if it weren't for you."

"Aren't we getting a bit off-subject here, guys?" Squall interjected.

"Aaaanyway, we settled down into more normal lives and lived with normal people for the next few years. When Reks turned eighteen two years ago, he enlisted in the army. We were all so proud of him, Dad especially. Reks said that he wasn't going to fight a war against terrorism. He said he was fighting a war against ignorance. Where he came from, they were led to believe that all Americans were evil and could not be trusted. But, Reks and Vaan were living proof to the contrary. Reks wanted to show them that. He was heavily scrutinized due to his ethic origin, but he didn't let that stop him. He was soon being shipped overseas to help in the relief effort, just like he wanted.

There were a lot of people from this area in his platoon. You might find some of their names familiar Squall. Claire Farron, aka Lightning, Firion Rosell, aka Rosebud, Cecil Harvy, Kain Highwind, Zack Fair, Cloud Strife…"

"Cloud?" He knew his neighbor went off to war, but he didn't realize that Cloud was in the same platoon as Reks. Those words Cosmos said to him reverberated in his head again:

_"… I am afraid that was not all the consequences my actions caused…"_

"Cloud's failed Awakening…" Squall started. "It has something to do with Rek's death, doesn't it?"

The three looked down and solemnly nodded. Bartz continued. "When the first Warrior of Chaos Awakened, Cosmos frantically searched for her Warriors to counter him. Cloud was the first she found and brought him to her Sanctuary. She tried to force him to Awaken, but Cloud couldn't handle it and fell into a coma, like I suspect you know. Cloud's unconscious body was returned to where he was plucked from, a room occupied by only Cloud and Reks. The captain, Angeal, walked in to see Reks and the unconscious Cloud, and instantly blamed Reks for Cloud's predicament. Reks tried his best to convince his commanding officer otherwise, but he wouldn't hear it. His fellow soldiers, though, believed Reks's story. Despite their best efforts, Reks's was branded a traitor and executed six months ago. Dad couldn't handle the loss of his son, and he, too, passed away in his sleep of a broken heart, leaving me, Zidane, and Vaan all alone. Reks's fellow soldiers tried their best to console us, but those were dark times… Really dark times."

"No one's been to our ranch since the incident. They don't want the birds that 'belonged to the father of a traitor,'" interjected Vaan.

"Fortunately, Cecil's brother was a friend of the editor of the local newspaper, so the story never really made it out to the locals in town."

"Ah, so that's why I haven't heard of this," Squall surmised.

"For all these people know, he was just another casualty of war, though, in reality, he was a casualty of a misunderstanding."

Squall had another question to ask, "But, wait, 'six months ago'? Wasn't that around the time of your… You know…"

"Awakening? Yeah. Not long after the incident, we were called by Cosmos to do the job that Cloud couldn't…"

**Whoa, long chapter, huh? **Squall has some step-mommy issues, but wouldn't you if she was the Cloud of Darkness?** Yup, the fourth adoptee was Reks, Vaan's older brother. How many of you guessed the obvious? And, apparently, the two of them are Arabic. Would make sense from their tanned, deserty game-of-origin, no? And, Zidane is a mini-Tarzan. No wonder he's so interested in the ladies…**

** But, yeah, from happy dinner scene to holycrapsobstory. Be honest, how many of you at least teared up? I'm curious.**

** Next chapter: Their first meeting with Cosmos, their Awakening (though probably in less detail than Squall's), and the first Warrior of Chaos.**


	5. Despair and Hope

**Quick note: Made some minor changes to the previous chapter, mainly involving how the town they live near grew so fast.**

"_When the things you love most are taken from you, what will you do?_

_Will you fall and fade into darkness, or will you stand and search for the light?"_

Six months ago, the time when the first stone in the new War was cast, the war that tore a family apart, the moment that chaos began to engulf the world, the moment that three brothers lost their way in the world. The three brothers returned to their empty, gray ranch after the burial of their father and brother, the brother who was marked a traitor and shunned by the rest of the country. It was a glorious, sunny day. Even the world itself seemed happy that Reks, the 'traitor,' was dead. Vaan took a rock in hand he found on the ground and threw it at the sun.

"YOU BASTARD! DON'T BE HAPPY! MY BROTHER IS DEAD! MY FATHER IS DEAD! RAIN, YOU ASSHOLE! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO RAIN! HE DID NOTHING! NOOOOOTHIIIING!" Vaan shouted as loud as he could in vain at the sky.

It wasn't fair. In movies, the sky would always respond to the sad scene and rain, making it that much more powerful, but, when they wanted the rain most, the sun bathed the world in its light, mocking them. Bartz and Zidane let Vaan lash out at the sky. He was doing what they, deep down, really wanted to: blame the world for what happened. Orphaned together, they entered their home, no, their house. It was not home anymore. There was no heart. The heart died with their father and brother. It was now nothing but a recently renovated building held together by newly applied plaster and blandly painted walls. The three went upstairs into their rooms. Bartz and Zidane went in the room next to their father's, and Vaan went in the room next door that he used to share with Reks. Before, when he was off to war and the room was only occupied by him, Vaan loved it. He could still feel Reks's presence in the room despite being hundreds of miles away. Now, however, his room was dark and foreign. The shadows seemed larger and blacker than before. Those shadows seemed ready to swallow him up as soon as he let his guard down. He didn't want to be here, not alone. Vaan ran into the room next door where his other brothers were and clung to Bartz, begging to move in with them. Though the two didn't feel much like doing anything, they agreed to help move Vaan's stuff from the room next door to here.

They first rearranged their stuff in the room to make room for one more. Though the placement made the room _extremely_ cramped, they agreed they didn't want to see anyone suffer any more than they had to. They spent the rest of the day moving Vaan's belongings from one room to the other. In those moments, they were almost happy. Focusing all their energies on moving the heavy furniture temporarily made them forget why they were doing it in the first place.

After Vaan got settled into his new room, the three ended up having a pillow fight to celebrate. Chocobos clashed with monkeys in the jungle. Monkeys danced in the sky with helicopters. Planes artfully barrel rolled out of the way of birds. The three couldn't help laughing as they enjoyed each other's company. They were a family after all, though broken and alone. Good and tired and gasping for air, the three flopped onto their respective beds. Bartz reached under his blanket to pull out the picture frame from Reks's room, the picture of their family, and held it aloft over his head. He stared at it as the tears began to well up in his eyes. Vaan and Zidane recognized the frame. They were soon off their beds and now laying on either side of Bartz's single-person bed. Vaan was smushed against the wall, and Zidane was barely on the bed at all. But, the three didn't mind. They stared gingerly into the photo as they recalled all the good times they had together. They silently cried themselves into a peaceful sleep to drown in their memories…

"_Warriors…"_

Bartz snorted as he half-opened his eyes from his peaceful sleep. _"Huh?"_

"_My Warriors… Please, awaken."_

Bartz heard it again, snapped awake and got up. Zidane and Vaan were sleeping next to him, but the sudden movement woke Vaan and Zidane up as well. Zidane fell off the bed with a thud.

"OW!" he yelled while rubbing his chin. "Darnit, Bartz! Warn me next…" He then noticed a glowing ball of golden light in front of his face. "… Time?"

"Zidane! Are you al- wait, what is that?" Vaan asked, noticing the ball of light in front of Zidane's face.

"A firefly?" Bartz questioned with a tilt of his head.

"My Warriors!" the glowing orb "said," causing the three to jump back in shock.

Zidane nervously pointed at it, his arm shaking as sweat began to pour down his face. "Whoa-whoa-whoa! Did that thing just _talk_?"

"Who are you?" demanded Bartz, shocking Vaan and Zidane with the tone of his voice. It was authoritative. The two never heard Bartz speak that way before. Bartz even shocked himself with his question.

The light seemed to respond to the question. "Forgive me; I forgot the 'you' of this world does not know me." The light then grew brighter, causing the three brothers to shield their eyes. When they could see again, standing before them was a golden haired woman in a white dress with gold accents. Zidane was instantly smitten, while the other two stared with their mouths agape. "I am Cosmos, Goddess of Harmony. And, you three are my Warriors."

"'Warriors'?" Bartz repeated in a questioning tone.

Vaan huffed. "Tch, you got the wrong guys, lady. The only warrior in this house was Reks, and he's never coming back! THOSE BASTARDS TOOK HIM FROM US!"

"V-Vaan!"

Vaan was about ready to jump off the bed and attack the intruder. The only thing holding him back was Bartz, quite literally. Bartz had Vaan in a shoulder lock mimicking the ones he saw the professional wrestlers use to sheer perfection. Vaan struggled against the strength of his brother, but Bartz held firm. Soon, Vaan's anger turned to tears as he began to cry again, and Bartz's lock turned into a hug, embracing his sobbing brother as he cried on his shoulder. Zidane scrambled back onto the bed to join the group hug to help stop Vaan's crying.

Cosmos simply starred at the sobbing mess before her, completely unphazed by Vaan's outburst of anger. "It appears you are right. You three are _not_ Warriors, or at least, not the ones I knew. The Vaan I knew was always happy and confident. He would not let any Chaos Warrior stand between him and his dream. Though, he also had a compassionate side, managing to convert one Warrior of Chaos to a Warrior of Cosmos. You are too blinded by anger and misery to be a Warrior."

Zidane, having shed the illusion of her beauty, was now furious at her. "How _dare_ you speak that way to my brother! "

Bartz added, "We just lost our family! The two men we admired most in this world are dead! Do you expect us not to be upset or angry at the world?" He, too, was now sobbing, the words barely coherent amongst the sobs and the occasional squeaks from Bartz's strained and failing voice.

Cosmos shook her head gently. "No, and you three have every right to be. But, true Warriors, the 'you' I knew, they channeled that anger and sadness into something greater. They turned it into strength to defend the world from tyranny and destruction." The three stopped crying and looked at her, listening carefully to her words. "Strength I am confident you can find again. Please, come with me," she implored, offering a hand for the three to take.

The three looked at each other nervously. Warriors? Them? Ridiculous. The three hesitated. They were no Warriors. They were just three guys who lost their family, living in some hick-town on an old ranch raising prized birds. That's when it hit Bartz and pulled their family photo out from underneath him. He looked at Reks. Reks was the same, just some guy on a ranch raising birds to race, but, at the same time, he saw himself as something more. He saw himself as a soldier, protecting the land he came to call home housing the people he came to call family. Was it really that simple? Accepting the fact that you had something to protect, was that all that was needed to be a Warrior? Vaan… Zidane… They were still here… Still his brothers. They needed his protection. He needed to become a Warrior for them.

"Alright, Cosmos," Bartz said suddenly, causing Vaan and Zidane to look at him confused. "I'll go with you. I'll do whatever you want."

"Wait, Bartz, you sure about this?" Zidane asked.

"I'm coming too!" Vaan announced. "I'm not letting anyone else take a brother from me! Not even some so-called Goddess!"

Zidane studied his brothers carefully. He saw something well up inside of them what was neither sadness nor anger. Whatever Cosmos had planned, they were ready. They really did look like Warriors to Zidane. Now, looking at them, Zidane, too, felt ready. "Guess I'd better come too, if only to keep you two out of trouble."

"Or to hit on the 'lovely lady,'" Bartz teased, causing the three to share a quick laugh.

After the moment of laughter, they simultaneously grabbed onto Cosmos's open hand. "Good. Prepare yourselves," she said as she began to glow in a radiant light causing the three to shield their eyes with their free arm. The three were consumed in the same glow, disappearing from their room.

When the three could see again, they were now kneeling in the shallow water of Cosmos's Sanctuary, mouths agape from the sudden and drastic change in scenery.

"D-Did we teleport?" Bartz questioned returning to his feet, looking around to survey the landscape.

"Oh, man, that was cool!" declared Zidane. Now, Zidane and Vaan were on their feet walking around.

"Yes, you have," rang a voice throughout the area as Cosmos appeared in a flash of light on her throne. "Welcome to my Sanctuary."

"Wow!" Bartz said, still admiring the place. "This place of yours is very-"

"_White_," deadpanned Vaan, interrupting Bartz's sentince. "This place of yours is very _white_."

"And wet," added Zidane. "Don't forget very wet."

"Hmph. You go out to get Warriors, but all you come back with are clowns," boomed a deep voice from the distance. The three brothers looked in the direction of the voice to see a vague figure on the horizon. The figure began to grow, indicating that he grew closer, and, as he did, several colored crystals seemed to form behind him and move with him. He was soon close enough for them to make out what he looked like. He was outfitted in heavy, silver armor with occasional gold trim and turquoise jewels. His entire body was covered to the point that the only thing you could see was his eyes that appeared as nothing but yellow orbs. His helmet was adorned with two, outstretched horns, giving him a sinister appearance, aided by the giant sword he dragged behind him.

Vaan fell on his rear in terror. "W-Who is that?"

Cosmos looked on as the summoned army grew. "Garland, the Stalwart, and Warrior of Chaos." She turned back to the three. "Please, I beg of you. You must fight him to protect this and all worlds from the rebirth of Chaos." She summoned their Crystals. The Crystals floated over to them and hovered in the air in front of them, waiting for their owners to grab hold. "These Crystals will guide you. Trust them. Please, hurry!"

At first, the trio hesitated. Everything was happening so fast their heads were spinning. But, as Bartz stared into his Crystal, he swore he saw something. Upon closer look, he saw his reflection, but there was something different about it. The face that looked back at him both was and, yet, was not his own. His reflection wore a silver circlet with a violet jewel in the center and beaded earrings. But, that wasn't all. Bartz could tell by looking in his reflection's eyes that what he was looking at was a Warrior… No, he was a hero, someone tempered by tragedy and loss into a defender of worlds and protector of people. Was this person what Cosmos saw in him? Were similar people waiting in the Crystals of his brothers? He had to know. Bartz reached out and grabbed his Crystal.

Suddenly, images of another life flashed into his mind, the life of a one Bartz Klauser, Warrior of Light. First, his childhood he spent with his mother before her passing, then his travels with his dad before his eventual death. The few years he spent with Boko, his chocobo, then the fateful meteor crash which changed his life. He met the princess, Lenna and the amnesiac, Galuf. They escaped a landslide and infiltrated a pirate's cove, where they met Farris, their captain. They tried, and failed, to commandeer the ship to get to the Wind Shrine. Still, Farris agreed to take them there anyway. They climbed the shrine, making it to the top only to see the Wind Crystal had shattered. They picked up the scattered pieces and collected the blessing of the Crystals to prevent their destruction. But, at every turn, they failed to prevent the Crystals from being destroyed causing the evil that they sealed away, a warlock known as Exdeath, to return. Bartz and his friends traveled across worlds to stop Exdeath's plans, only failing at every turn as Exdeath shattered the other world's crystals, causing the two worlds to recombine and give Exdeath access to the Void, a source of unimaginable destructive power. Galuf tried to stop Exdeath on his own, but perished, causing his granddaughter, Krile, to take up his mantle. As Exdeath began to banish various parts of the world into the Void, Castle Tycoon and Lenna were caught in the rift, causing Bartz to mount a rescue operation by diving into the Void itself. They wandered through the rift, eventually coming to confront Exdeath himself. Exdeath managed to disable Bartz's allies as the two of them clashed…

Then, the next thing he knew, he was in Cosmos's Sanctuary again. Cosmos began to explain that she had summoned him and others here to fight for her. Vaan, Zidane, Squall, Claire, no wait, "Lightning," Firion, Cecil, Kain… many faces he recognized as people he knew. _"They were Warriors too?"_ he thought. He remembered the fighting and the friendships forged as he tried to survive and remember where he came from. He remembered the final cycle, travelling with Zidane and getting himself captured. Making his way back to friends and getting Zidane caught. Squall, Cosmos, his Crystal, everything, returning home, and striking the final blow against Exdeath, causing the world's rebirth, he remembered it all.

When he became aware of himself again, he noticed that Zidane and Vaan were kneeling over him with concerned looks on their face. "Bartz! Bartz! Are you okay?" they asked in frantic unison.

"You touched your Crystal and passed out there for a sec!" Zidane started.

"What happened, man?" Vaan finished.

"I dunno… I guess… I feel like I woke up for the first time from a long dream…" Bartz said trying to understand what just happened himself.

A gentle clapping could be heard in the distance. The three look over to see that it was Cosmos with a gentle smile on her face. "Well done, Bartz. Look at yourself."

"Huh?" Bartz looked down to see himself wearing the outfit he saw in his dreams, the outfit the other him wore while fighting here for Cosmos. Bartz studied his hands like they were some foreign entity, trying to take the entire moment in. He got back to his feet and stretched his arm before him, demanding a weapon of his commrads' to appear. Then, flashing into his hand in a burst of light was the combined form of Zidane's daggers, the Ogre. Bartz twirled it in his hand before he switched to Vaan's Katana, slicing the air in front of him twice. The katana was dismissed with a flex of Bartz's hand as his two brothers looked on, curious, amazed, and somewhat terrorfied.

Zidane was the first to find his voice. "B-Bartz? How did you just-"

"The Crystal. It showed me things… Things that I feel like I've forgotten, though I know they never happened before. It's weird. Like I said, it's like waking up from a long dream for the first time. That's the best I can describe it." He looked at his brothers with a gentle smile on his face. "Guys, you can leave this guy to me. I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

"Isn't that the same thing Reks said before he left?" Vaan said looking down into the water. He then shot up on his feet to look at Bartz with his indigo eyes. "Do you think I'm going to sit idly by while another one of my brothers puts his life on the line to fight in a war?"

Bartz looked at him with shock and concern. "Vaan…"

"Yeah, we're all in this together, though, if you start singing that song, I swear I'm going to pop you one," added Zidane.

"Zidane…"

Without another word, the two grabbed the Crystals that patiently waited for their hands, and began the process of Awakening as well.

Garland's laughter, a booming, fierce, and somewhat sad chortle, rang throughout the Sanctuary. "Finally! Now real Warriors appear before me! My blood boils! Let us fight until one side stands victorious!"

"And that side will be ours, Garland!" shouted Zidane with his tail gently swishing emphasizing his confidence.

"Oh, god, what am I wearing?" Bartz and Zidane turned to look at Vaan, wondering what he was talking about. Vaan was wearing his normal outfit, without his shirt. "I look like a rejected extra from Aladdin!" Bartz and Zidane did their best to stifle their laughter. Vaan closed his eyes, seemingly searching his memories for something. His body began to glow as his outfit added a white, puffy shirt to his ensemble. "Ah, that's better," he remarked, dusting off the shirt.

Sharing a chuckle, Bartz then put his serious look back on and shouted to Garland. "Garland! You want a fight, prepare yourself! We three brothers are your opponents!"

**Oh, snap. Shit's about to go down, yo. Bah, I probably caused many a yaoi-fangirl's wet dream there by having the three sleep together. GET YER MINDS OUTTA THE GUTTER, WHORES. That's all they did, sleep. Nothing more. It's like when a child has a bad dream and wants to sleep with their older siblings. It's completely natural.**

**Yup, first Chaos Warrior to Awaken was Garland! Daaaaamn. At least he's patient, considering the time difference stuff.**

**Lulz, Vaan questions what his other self was thinking with that outfit. He does us all a favor and puts a shirt on. At least one Vaan has some sense, no? And, wow, he's got quite the potty-mouth when he's angry.  
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**Next chapter, THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY! GARLAND AND THE MANIKIN ARMY VERSES BARTZ, ZIDANE, AND VAAN! WHO WILL EMERGE VICTORIOUS AND WHO WILL BE EATING DIRT? BE THERE!**


	6. A Promise Kept

"_How sad it must be to lose all hope… to resign oneself to a fate of endless battle…"_

Garland had now made his way to the throne in Cosmos's Sanctuary, Manikin army close behind. His towering form was staring down the three brothers who had the gall to face him in combat.

"Hmph. Cosmos's three jesters stand before me, wishing to fight. WHAT A DIVINE JOKE!" he shouted, laughter echoing in his helmet.

"You know, Garland, I didn't take you for a bully," Bartz remarked, noting Garland's unnecessary show-of-force in the Manikin army behind him.

Vaan rubbed his nose in a cocky manner. "Not that it'll make a difference because…"

The three, in unison, made a sweeping point at the entire force that stood before them. "We three shall knock you all down!" emphasizing the last part by turning their thumbs down like a Roman emperor.

In response to their bold proclamation, Garland laughed for a good five minutes. Garland found it strange that it wasn't one of his usual forced laughs. It was genuine. As soon as it filled the Sanctuary with its amused laughter, it died again as Garland remembered his duty as a Warrior. He sneered at them from under his helmet. "Do not take me for a coward, fools. They will not move unless I tell them, and they will only attack if you turn tail and try to flee. They will find you and rip you limb from limb."

Zidane folded his arms in confidence. "I guess that means we'd better kick your ass then." He summoned his Mage Mashers, pink daggers with runes on the blade and green hilts, and assumed his battle stance, slightly hunched over with his daggers in a reverse-grip, his tail up and out behind him. "Who'll do the honor?"

Garland merely laughed again. "You think you can face me alone? Last I remember, you had the aid of Squall, and even then, you couldn't harm me." Zidane spat in response. He hated to admit it, but Garland spoke the truth. "No, one of you alone will not satisfy me. All three of you will fight me at once! That is a true battle!"

"Alright, Garland," Bartz began, adjusting his gloves to make sure they were on good and tight. "If that's what you want, that's what you'll get."

Vaan began to stretch his neck and crack his knuckles, the metal gauntlets clinking in response. "Just point us to the battlefield, and we'll be sure to get that five-cent deposit on your tin-can."

"Laugh while you can, Warriors of Cosmos. Soon, you will even be unable to scream." Garland, using the energies of Chaos that flowed naturally through his body, erected a brown-gate with a blue crest in the middle of the Sanctuary. "I assume you remember these?"

Bartz's face lit up as he recognized the gate. "Oh, hey! It's a Gate! Man, I remember these… Good times… Good times…"

"Memories that you only just remembered five minutes ago…" Zidane pointed out.

"Touché."

The four combatants touched the crest, causing it to turn from a calming blue to a burning red. As the crest began to glow, the four were transported inside to do battle. The Manikin army that Garland summoned turned into lifeless husks without their master. Cosmos, however, kept her eyes on the Gate that took her Warriors and the "man" that was her "son" as it disappeared from the Sanctuary. She bowed her head and clasped her hands, silently praying for all of them to return safely.

The battle field that waited inside the gate was a bunch of magenta and white floating platforms out in a similarly magenta space. There were no walls or ceilings. In the background, the Warriors could see platforms flying by at high speeds and a huge clock-like mechanism. Two great archways welcomed the Warriors to the other floating platforms. This place was known as Orphan's Cradle, the final stage in Lighting's desperate fight against fate. It was now witness to fate weaving a new thread in the lives of three "brothers," fighting a war that should have never existed with powers and knowledge they weren't supposed to know.

Seeing the magenta platforms floating in space with no visible ground beneath gave Bartz the shivers. "Man, I hate this place. It's almost as bad as the Rift."

Zidane threw his arms up in frustration. "How many times do I have to apologize for that game of hide-and-seek? My god!"

"PEEK-A-BOO!" Garland shouted from above, swinging his mighty axe down from above, causing the ground around the axe slam to erupt and crack. The three managed to swiftly dodge out of the way, Bartz to the right, Vaan to the left, and Zidane to the back. Zidane countered Garland's attack by charging energy in his foot, then kicked out three diamond-like magenta bullets in Garland's direction, while Bartz pulled out Cloud's Buster Sword and charged. Vaan took out his Greatsword and began to charge a mighty swing as Bartz's mimicked Climhazzard found its mark in Garland. After the charge part of the attack ended, Cloud's Buster Sword disappeared as he proceeded to punch Garland three times in a perfect mimicry of Tifa's Beat Rush. The attack sent Garland flying as Vaan's fully charged attack closed the distance and struck Garland twice and hard, knocking Garland further away and through one of the archways.

The attacks, as fierce as they were, barely phased Garland, as he simply recovered in mid-air and began to dust himself off. He laughed one of his usual taunting laughs, causing the three brothers to gasp in shock. "Is that all? Bah. Even together, you three are no match for me." Garland accessed his pool of magic, causing three bolts of lightning to rain down over the three brothers. They narrowly managed to avoid it, but now they were fighting according to Garland's flow. "DANCE, MISERABLE PAWNS, DANCE!" He shouted as his giant sword split into two smaller ones, shooting out several flaming missiles at the three. Bartz took cover as best he could, and Zidane managed to artfully dodge the shots. Vaan, however, wasn't so lucky. Vaan was struck several times by the burning strikes, his clothes and skin charred from where the volleys connected. He grunted and struggled to move, but his body protested in pain.

"VAAN!" Bartz and Zidane shouted in unified worry.

Garland extended the hidden chain in his sword and swung the improvised flail. "YOUR HEAD IS MINE, BOY!"

"NO!" Zidane shouted as he jumped in the way of the sword, getting stabbed in the back, then flung upwards.

"You wish to die too?" Garland asked, having closed the gap between himself and Zidane. "Very well!" He turned his giant sword into an axe again and slammed it down hard on Zidane's back, causing him to crash into the ground with such force to leave a small crater, right next to Vaan. Zidane lost consciousness instantly.

"Z-Zidane…" Vaan grunted, still unable to move from the terrible burns. Bartz did his best to make it to his down brothers, but Garland suddenly appeared in front of Bartz, causing him to jump back.

"So much for your bold proclamation, Warrior of Light," Garland began as he charged red energy into his sword. "Any last words?"

Everything looked like it was moving in slow-motion to Bartz. Garland's swing began, but all he could see was his brothers behind the giant, armored man in his way. Zidane… Vaan… No, he couldn't leave them behind, too. He couldn't die here… They still needed him!

Suddenly, when Bartz noticed what was going on, the background, the platforms, everything but him was gray. It didn't just _seem_ like Garland was moving in slow motion; he really _was_. _"Wait, I remember this… EX Revenge!"_ Feeling new confidence, Bartz took the few seconds of free damage for all it was worth. He first began by throwing Firion's axe in Garland's face in a perfect imitation of Firion's Axe Reel. After the axe ran through Garland's right shoulder, the axe boomeranged back and sliced through his left. When the axe returned to his hand, he pulled out the combined form of Zidane's daggers, the Ogre, and spun as the blades scrapped against his armor, then kicked him away. Right afterwards, he pulled out Kain's purple spear and slashed twice at Garland's chest twice, right, then left, before switching to Lightning's Blazefire Saber Gunblade, and slamming Garland into the ground. Using the last few seconds of the slowed-down time Bartz had left, he pulled out a red cannon that looked vaguely like a dragon's head and summoned a huge, blue energy saber, using his whole body to swing the blade down as it sliced down Garland's body, melting the armor around where the blade sliced through the metal.

The flow of time returned to normal as the pain of what Bartz did during the second that was stretched to a minute caught up with Garland. Garland screamed as his melted armor started to sear his skin. He ripped off the melted scrap, revealing his true form, that of a black monster with silver hair. His head was decorated with a horned headpiece as some of his hair was gathered in a ponytail that dangled in front. His blank, white eyes and sharp teeth only added to his monstrous form. Bartz was taken aback.

"Whoa, no wonder you keep the armor on," Bartz remarked.

Vaan finally managed to get his body to cooperate enough to return to his feet, using his spear to prop him up. "B-Bartz!"

"V-Vaan! Don't-"

"FOOL!" Garland shouted as his sword extended, charging at Vaan. The lance-like sword raked the side of Vaan's body, causing him to howl in pain, but Garland wasn't finished yet. In Vaan's stunned state, he transformed his sword into the axe again, and slammed it into Vaan's back, causing him to hit the ground face-first. Vaan was now also unconscious, right next to his brother. He turned to Bartz, his sharp teeth in a sinister grin, causing Bartz to freeze in fear. "Two down, and only one left."

Bartz was trembling. Adrenaline surged through his body. His mind desperately told his feet to move, to run, to _flee_, but they stubbornly stayed planted in the same spot. The only movement they could manage was to shake. The air started to feel thin as Bartz gasped for breath. He began to feel faint as his head began to feel light. _"I… I'm a coward! I can't even protect myself! Why did I agree to this? We're all going to die! I couldn't even protect my brothers!"_ Images of his lives flashed before his eyes. The good, the bad… The happy, the sad… The photo. He could see Reks staring at him in his mind with those eyes, the eyes of a true hero, the eyes that his other-self had - the eyes that his current-self lacked.

"_Bartz…"_ a voice said, echoing in his head.

"_That voice… Reks?"_

He began to flash back to the time the photo was taken. It was right before Reks went off to fight. After the family photo was taken for Reks to take with him, Reks pulled Bartz aside to speak with him.

"Bartz?"

"Yeah, bro?"

Reks ran his hair through his "little" brother's hair rigorously, though they were about the same height. "You be good to them. With me gone, you're now the oldest in the house. You gotta be responsible."

Bartz tried his best to get Reks to stop ruffling his hair, though it was a futile effort as he laughed. "You sound just like Dad, Reks!"

Reks stopped and put his hands on his hips. "Come on, Bartz. Promise me, okay? Promise me nothing will happen to them."

Bartz took a moment to fully take in what Reks was asking of him. Reks was asking Bartz to be the big brother while he was gone. Bartz's face beamed as he took what Reks said to heart. If Reks had faith in him, then he would do it proudly. "I promise! I promise to be the best big brother I can be!"

"Good," Reks nodded. "I don't have anything to worry about, then..."

The memory ended as Bartz remembered his promise. "That's right! I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to them!"

Garland sneered again. "Great job you've done so far."

Bartz shot Garland a threatening glare causing even the hardened warrior and demon to be taken aback. "That was just the first round. Allow me to ring the bell for round two!" he shouted, taking out Zidane's Mage Mashers spinning in the air as the daggers cut into Garland's flesh. After a few slices, the daggers shifted to Tidus's Brotherhood, a weapon seemingly made of water, and kicked Garland away.

"Yes! Let us enjoy this fight!" Garland cackled, as he turned his sword into a makeshift flail again. Bartz responded by summoning five spheres of white light and launched them at Garland. Garland used the flail to knock the orbs away. Bartz used the opportunity to charge in foot-first as he held Tidus's Brotherhood in hand. As he kicked through, the sword slashed Garland behind him, then kicked back through. After the second kick, the sword shifted to Kain's spear, the pointed end stabbing Garland's back once, twice, three times as Bartz artfully swung it in his arms as the last strike sent Garland upwards. Before Garland had the chance to recover, Bartz summoned Cecil's blue-spear like weapon and tossed a white, magical bit at Garland. When it connected, he artfully danced and slashed at Garland as blade and magic raked through his flesh. With the final hit, Bartz slammed Garland into the ground, leaving a crater where Garland's battered body met the ground.

Garland gasped for air as blood filled his lungs. Bartz landed on the ground close by and slowly walked toward Garland, Vaan's katana in one hand, and one of Zidane's Mage Mashers in the other. Spitting up blood, he could see the murderous look in Bartz's eyes, and, perhaps in a state of delirium from blood-loss, _smiled_.

"Yes… YES!" he managed to choke out. "Finish me!" He hacked up more blood as it oozed from his mouth. "Th-That is your Warrior's right!"

Bartz placed the two weapons on either side of Garland's neck, threatening to behead him with his brother's weapons. Garland smiled as his blood ran down his cheek and onto the ground, staining the once clean floors with a demon's blood. Garland was ready, he's already died countless times before, each death fulfilling the cycle of Chaos he found himself trapped in. He patiently waited for the steal to carve through his neck.

"Cure."

The blades that hugged his neck began to glow as healing magic flowed through them and into his battered body, repairing his bleeding lungs allowing him to breathe. His body was still heavily damaged, but he wasn't on the verge of death anymore. Garland struggled to get up as the blades vanished in Bartz's hand. He could see Bartz was running off to his unconscious brothers.

"WHY? WHY DID YOU SPARE ME? DON'T YOU DARE TAKE PITTY ON ME, BOY!" he shouted at Bartz, absolutely furious.

Bartz stopped. He was now half-way between Garland and his brothers. He turned his head to look back, but his body still faced his siblings. "Because, I've mourned the deaths of enough people. I don't want to mourn yours as well, Principal."

Garland desperately tried to return to his feet, though the last bits of his strength faded as he soon passed out in a puddle of his own blood. Bartz made it to his brothers and began to cast Raise and Curaga on them. Zidane was the first to wake up, though still sore from his wounds.

"Ugh, what happened?" he managed to blurt out.

"I think I won," Bartz answered, pointing to the unconscious Garland.

Vaan stirred awake and noticed the sleeping, black giant across the stage. "Whoa, I see why he keeps the armor on…"

The three share a quick laugh as the Gate reappeared on the slightly elevated platform in the middle of the stage. From the Gate, Cosmos walked out and over to Garland. She kneeled beside him and stroked his head. "There, there, my 'son.' It's time to sleep. Sleep and forget." That's when she sensed the concentrated discord in his chest. She summoned a sphere of light in her hand, and, like metal to a magnet, the crystalized discord was drawn to the harmonious force. The harmonious energy encompassed the crystal shard, negating its power. The trio was now behind Cosmos staring at the Crystal shard in the sphere.

"Is that…" Bartz began to ask.

"A crystal shard? Yes, I believe it is," Cosmos answered. "But, unlike your Crystals, I can sense the power of discord radiating through this shard."

"You mean, Chaos's power?" Zidane asked to clarify.

Cosmos nodded. The three looked at each other with concern.

"What could this mean? I thought Chaos didn't have any Crystals…" Vaan was confused.

That's when something clicked in Bartz's head. "Wait, you don't think-"

"That it's the Crystal the Emperor was talking about?" Zidane finished.

Cosmos gasped. Her former Warrior, Jecht, had also formed a Crystal in the 13th cycle. However, since he was aligned with Chaos, her harmonious energies were overtaken by the power of discord and formed a Crystal of Chaos. Someone had found the last trace of Chaos from the war, and someone was using the new world birthed from it to restart it.

Vaan was still confused. "So, wait, if this is just a shard, where's the rest of the Crystal?"

Cosmos answered this time. "It is with the person who is restarting the War of the Gods." She returned to her feet and turned to look at her three Warriors. "Forgive me, my Warriors, but it seems I-"

"Eh, don't sweat it, Cosmos," Bartz interrupted, waving her off.

"We'll help as long as we need to!" the other two added in unison.

Cosmos took a moment to study the three people before her. They weren't the same, broken family that entered. They were now Warriors, no, Champions of Cosmos, ready and willing to protect their home and the people in it. She smiled and nodded. "Very well. I shall call upon you when needed, but for now, you should return home to rest." The three looked over at Garland, who was now back to normal, his demonic form gone to reveal a white man with a square jaw and well-built physique hidden by the silver-gray suit he always wore around school. Cosmos could tell by their looks they were worried about him.

"Do not fret, Champions. He shall be fine. He will return to your world without memories of what transpired here," she said gently, summoning her magic again. Principal Garland was bathed in the golden light and disappeared in the magic, departing for his home. Cosmos used her energies on the Gate that led them here. It transformed into the white, double-door with golden decorations. "Enter those doors to return home, my Warriors."

The three walked up to the doors and pushed them open. The doors released a burst of light which momentarily blinded the three, before fading away to reveal their room, exactly as they left it. Vaan ran through the doors first, followed by Zidane. As Bartz was about to enter the door, he suddenly remembered something.

"Ah, wait! Cosmos!" he called to her, turning around. "How do we get back here?"

"Use your Crystals. Think of this place, and they shall guide you."

Bartz nodded in affirmation as he walked through the doors himself to rejoin his brothers on the other side. Filled with a new purpose, he was going to protect his brothers with his own hands, just like he promised Reks he would.


	7. First Day Awake

"_A secret is best kept with friends who understand."_

"Well, Squall, that's our story," Bartz said having finished recounting the tale of their Awakening. "Any other questions?"

"Uh, just one, I guess. So, all those times you caused trouble at the end of the year…"

"Yeah, we were doing it to get out of class to answer Cosmos's call."

"… You couldn't use the 'I need to go to the bathroom' excuse?"

Vaan decided to chime in this time. "Have _you_ ever tried to get out of Mr. Hojo's class? Sure, before Awakening, he was scary enough, but realizing he was _Sephiroth_ afterwards always made the urge to go complete disappear…"

"… Surprisingly, this explains _so_ much."

Bartz artfully glided over the heaps of garbage and unwashed clothes as he made his way to his drawers. He pulled out a clean, white shirt and blue, plaid pants, and a pair of black socks. Squall's face twisted into a questioning look.

Bartz noticed and asked "What, something wrong?"

"N-No! Nothing." Squall took clothes in hand and made his leave. The three brothers waved after him.

"G'night, Squall!" the three called out in unison.

"Yeah, night, guys." He said, leaving the room, turning off the light behind him, and closing the door.

Squall felt a nudge on his shoulder, causing him to wake from his dream. It was a dream of the Rinoa "he" knew. He was woken up right before the kiss.

Grunting to himself, he managed to groggily blurt out, "Figures…" Then, he noticed the smell of something simply wonderful enter his nose. When he was a little more awake, he noticed a plate of blueberry waffles and a mug of piping-hot coffee with enough cream to lighten it ever so slightly on the glass table. He half-chuckled to himself as he rubbed his eyes, yawned, and stretched his arms above him. He didn't catch who it was who woke him up, but he appreciated the breakfast in "bed" anyway.

Squall took a quick gulp of the coffee. "Vanilla Hazelnut. How'd they know?" Putting the coffee down as he let the caffeine to do its job, Squall began to carve up the waffles with the knife that rested gingerly on the plate. After a generous helping of syrup, Squall stabbed one of the segmented squares with his fork. The syrup began to ooze out of the pours as Squall hurried to place the piece in his mouth. The piece was crispy on the outside, but light and fluffy on the inside. The sweetness of the syrup and dough was complimented nicely by the tartness of the blueberries. He enjoyed the meal so much he was unable to speak. Squall looked around the room and tried his best to peak into the hallway to make sure no one was looking. When he thought the coast was clear enough, he began to shovel the delicious food down his awaiting gullet.

Having consumed half of his breakfast, he began to hear giggles from above him. Choking on a piece, he looked up to see Zidane hanging on the ceiling fan above him with his… tail?

"Z-Zidane!"

Between laughs, Zidane managed to blurt out, "Sorry, Squall! I couldn't help myself. I honestly didn't expect _that_ kind of reaction. Bartz'll be happy to hear that!"

Blushing, Squall tried to change the subject, "No, I mean, you still have your tail?"

Zidane looked behind him to see his tail wrapped around the blades of the fan using them like the branches he used to play in when he was little. "Oh, yeah…" He released his hold on the fan and landed on his feet gracefully on the carpet. "Kinda came with Awakening. Fortunately, I can hide it under my shirt. Better get a shower fast. We gotta go soon."

"Ah, right." Squall took the clothes and headed upstairs to clean himself up for the day. Zidane ran back into the kitchen as Bartz prepared everyone's lunch.

"So, Zidane, did you ask if Squall wanted a lunch?" Bartz asked. He heard new footsteps enter the room and guessed they belonged to Zidane without looking up to affirm since he was still cutting up some lettuce leaves for Vaan's sandwich.

"Shit, I forgot! I got too distracted by Squall's eating habits to ask!"

Zidane bolted out of the room and upstairs to the last room in the hallway, the bathroom. Zidane knocked three times on the door as he could hear running water on the other side of it.

"Who's there?" Squall shouted from inside the shower so that his voice could be heard over the water.

"Yo, Squall, it's Zidane. Quick question: You want a packed lunch?"

"Uh…" he thought for a moment. If Bartz was making it, then he'd be a fool to refuse, especially since the cafeteria's food wasn't _nearly_ as appetizing. "Sure, okay."

"Cool! I hope you like BLTs!"

After Zidane left to give Bartz the go-ahead, Squall finished up his shower. Drying himself off, he inspected himself for any other marks from yesterday, but the scar that blemished his once flawless face was the only thing that remained as an indicator of what transpired. He shrugged as he put on Bartz's uniform. It was a little tight since Bartz's frame was a bit smaller than his, but otherwise it fit alright. He grabbed the blow-dryer that was in the bathroom as well and began to dry his hair. Looking in the mirror, "his" face looked back at him cutting off at his fluffy-collared leather jacket in the small, medicine cabinet mirror. He gave "his" reflection an icy glare as his other-self followed suit.

Sighing, he thought, _"This is going to be really annoying if I see 'his' face in every reflective surface…"_

He brushed his teeth, using "his" reflection as a guide. They were, basically, the same person even if they grew up on two separate worlds and lived two completely different lives. Looking at "him," he wondered if "he" became aware of him. He got to grow up with a father and his big sister and his mom, for at least a little while. He even had Claudine, as much as he hated to admit it. "He" had no one. "He" wasn't even aware he had "siblings" because of the Guardian Forces. Thinking about it, those three were living similar lives to what "he" lived, but they reveled in it while "he" brooded on it.

"… Those three are right; 'I' need to smile more…"

After everyone was all ready to go, Squall led them out to the car.

"Ah, Squall, you don't have to-" Bartz began to protest.

"Come on. I promised my step-mom I would; now get in," he said, shoving Bartz in the front seat. After Bartz dutifully sat down, Zidane and Vaan took the back seats and clicked their buckles into place. Squall took a quick moment to check the mirrors, turn on the car, and turn the car around in the dirt driveway. As the trio waved good-bye to Gilgamesh, Squall pulled out of the gravel roadway and onto the main street. Since it was out in the country, it wasn't paved much better than the driveway.

The car-ride was surprisingly quiet until Vaan decided to speak up. "So, Squall, what's with all the belts on _your_ outfit?"

"I 'unno, decoration? Seriously makes me wonder what's considered fashion back where 'I' come from…"

"Ya see? I thought the same thing! I mean, running around without a shirt on in the desert? What am 'I,' nuts? Hello, skin-cancer! At first, I thought it was because 'I' couldn't afford a shirt, but, somehow being able to afford jewel encrusted _gauntlets_ made that implausible, not to mention the fact that, during my adventure, 'I' became quite the hunter and Sky Pirate."

Zidane, tail tucked away under his shirt, added, "Well, at least it's not as bad as _Bartz's_…"

"H-Hey!" Bartz began in protest. "There's nothing I can do about it! Where 'I' come from, the Crystal shards that gave 'me' my powers came pre-built with outfits! That's what my Mime outfit looks like! Changing my outfit would mean changing my entire Job Class!"

"Excuses, excuses…"

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful as they pulled into the student parking lot. One by one, the four emerged from the car, causing the students who were passing by to start whispering amongst themselves.

"Is that Squall and-"

"I-I think it is!"

"What are they doing together?"

The juicy gossip was starting already. One of the most popular guys in school walking with three of the least popular? It was gossip _gold_. The four were completely unaware that they were causing quite a bit of commotion as they walked in together like it was completely natural. To them and their other memories, it _was_, but no one else was privy to those strange and wonderful times. It was like watching a lion walk proudly beside its prey instead of chasing it down to tear out its jugular. He didn't realize there was a problem until Seifer, his "friend," pulled him aside and down another hallway.

"What, Seifer?" he said with an unintended harshness.

"What – wait, whoa what happened to your face?" Seifer, a boy with short, blond hair and similarly icy-blue eyes, began.

"Huh?" Then, he remembered his "new" scar from the night before. _"Oh, right. I forgot that wasn't there yesterday. Great, how do I explain this…?"_ He thought for a moment, trying to stall for time until he could think of a convincing story. "Oh, uh, this? Yeah, funny story. I dropped a glass yesterday, and it broke, and one of the shards flew up and scraped right across my face!" Squall mentally face-palmed himself. _"Oh god, that will never fly."_

Seifer, however, not being the brightest guy and being somewhat gullible, believed him. "Whoa, ouch, is that what happened? Sorry man – wait, what am I saying? What are you doing hanging out with those _chickenwusses_? We beat those dorks up, remember?"

"They're not dorks, Seifer. They're my friends."

Seifer couldn't help but laugh at that. "Wait, seriously? Since when? I heard you were just supposed to tutor them, but here you are, _walking to class with them._" Seifer put his hand on his friend's shoulder in a consoling manner. "After school, you teach them. During school, you 'school' them. Don't forget your place in the school hierarchy."

Just then, Squall noticed Fuujin, a silver haired female with her bangs obscuring her left eyes as her right red starred unblinking at him, and Raijin, a well-muscled tan youth with short, black hair, were sticking close to Seifer, as usual. The more he compared their lives, the more similar they appeared.

"Kings," Fuujin blurted out in her usual one-word-sentence manner.

"We rule this school, ya know? They need to respect us, ya know?" Raijin added.

"And stuffing them in their lockers is 'respect'?" Squall asked.

"You used to think so, Squall," Seifer commented. "One night there, and it's like you're a completely different person. Man, I don't get it."

Well, he sort of _was_ a completely different person. Having two sets of memories of "yourself" can make things confusing. One set of memories said Seifer was a friend, while the other said he was an enemy… well, sort of, anyway. Squall shook off the thoughts.

"Anyway, I don't think we should really pick on them anymore," Squall tried to explain. "They have it hard enough already without us adding to their problems."

Seifer sighed and shook his head. "Look, Squall, as a member of Dissidia High's Disciplinary Committee, you know they need to be punished for stepping out of line. Sure, there's _detention_, but what has that fixed? Nothing, that's what. They still act like the idiots they are. I'm just doing this for the betterment of our school."

"Whatever," Squall said flatly as he rolled his eyes and walked off toward class.

"HEY, DON'T YOU 'WHATEVER' ME!" Seifer yelled back.

Squall's day was mostly a blur as he began to see his teachers in a new light… for better or worse. Since his Awakening, whenever anyone, not just him, walked by a reflective surface, he could see their "other-selves" in it. His Biology teacher, being the only class he shared with Bartz, was Doctor Enuo Exodus, an old and somewhat short man with a snow-white affro, white mustache and beard, and black-framed circular glasses in a white lab coat, or, as he knew him from the wars, _Exdeath_ of all people. The fact that this was Bartz's best class and Dr. Exodus was Bartz's favorite teacher made this realization all the more jarring. He was already aware that their principal was Garland, and their math teacher was Sephiroth. Who else did "he" know were teachers?

After the blur that was biology, since Squall was too busy thinking about what teachers were who, he meandered to history class. In front of the large, oak desk in the front of the room, stood a rather short-statured female, not that she could help being a midget. Her dyed-blond hair was tied into two pony-tails to make her appear younger. As they bounced with each step her tiny frame made, she barked orders for the students to take out their work or their books. Despite not being tall enough to actually _make_ a reflection in the window, Squall knew who that was right away.

"_Oh, you have got to be kidding…"_

The history teacher was a one Doctor Shantotto Karababa, or the black mage with a penchant for destruction that was, strangely, aligned with _Cosmos_ during the war. Squall rubbed his temples feeling a headache coming on as he passed his homework down the line with the other students.

After the history class he, again, wasn't really paying attention in, Squall decided to stop for a moment in the Nurse's office for an aspirin to fight off the building migraine. The nurse that ran the office was a man in his late twenties with an Arabic accent, tan skin as befitting his foreign ethnicity, and short, dark-brown hair. Squall sat in one of the chairs that lined the walls of the office while he waited for the aspirin. As Nurse Minwu walked by the only reflective surface in the room, a metal, paper-towel dispenser, Squall could see his reflection wear a white turban and face-mask that obscured his nose and mouth.

"_H-Him too? For crying out loud!"_

Squall took the aspirin and water and gulped them down as fast as he could, so he could leave. This was beginning to be too much. He felt like he was going crazy with all the things he was seeing. It made him wonder how those three first managed to adjust.

"Ugh, biology, history, math, the principal, the guidance counselor, the _nurse_, who else?" Squall thought out loud as he stood in front of the door to his next class, Mechanics. It was thanks to this class that he managed to fix the car that he used to drive around in. He hoped, no, prayed that this guy wasn't a Warrior of Chaos.

He opened the door and walked in. There were a variety of work benches in the front of the room with a large assortment of power-tools toward the back. They were a little dated but worked just as well as any of the newer models on the market. The school was on a budget, after all. Unlike most classes, this one didn't have arranged seating, so Squall was allowed to sit wherever he wanted at the work benches. This class was the only one he shared with Vaan, so Squall decided to sit next to his "new" friend.

"Hey," Vaan said as Squall took a seat on the empty stool next to him. "How's your day been going?"

"_Wonderfully_," Squall answered with as much sarcasm as he could muster as he rubbed his forehead.

"Ah, weren't prepared? Yeah, it's going to take a while to get used to it, but you will. We managed to alright. It's just remembering that who 'they' are aren't who they are… You follow?"

"Vaan, that was as clear as _mud_."

He laughed nervously. "Sorry. Um… Just don't get the person you see in the mirror confused with the person you see in front of you. I nearly _attacked_ Terra's parents once I saw their reflections."

"That bad?"

"Well, technically, they're her uncles, but the fact that I saw _Kefka_ and _Kuja_ in their reflections…"

"You're _kidding_." Squall was so shocked, if his jaw could hit the floor, it would have.

"I don't know what's scarier: The fact that her uncles are Kefka and Kuja, or the fact that they're a _couple_…"

"_Definitely_ the latter."

After their little chat and roll-call, Squall and Vaan worked on their separate projects. The few moments that the teacher walked around to do his civic duty as a teacher, Squall noticed that his teacher, Cid Highwind (no relation to Kain Highwing), had a reflection he _didn't_ recognize, but, like the others, it didn't match his real appearance. Still, the differences were pretty minor, surprisingly. In fact, the only difference between them was a cigarette in "his" mouth compared to the toothpick that he had in his mouth normally. They wore the same dirty, blue coat, same worn, brown gloves, the same oil-and-sweat-stained black shirt, same rusted, old goggles, and the same pants covered in metal shavings. The only difference besides the cigarettes this Cid had was the lack of a scarf. Squall figured it was an accident waiting to happen, which is why everyone took their ties off before starting work.

After that class was Lunch period. Vaan bolted ahead to get a good table for himself and his "brothers," not that it would really matter since no one else sits with them if they wanted to have any hope of staying on the _outside_ of their lockers. Thinking about it, though, why did they continue to let Seifer, and himself for a while anyway, do that? They were fully capable of taking on _Gods_ if they wanted to. It seemed like a little much to keep up the sense of normalcy to Squall. Then again, it seemed to have worked since for the months before summer vacation, he didn't even realize they _could_ fight back, and then some.

As Squall made it to the cafeteria, there was a hustle and bustle of students making their way toward empty seats and cafeteria lines to purchase lunch. Noise from the multitude of conversations going on at once filled the air as the words blended to make incoherent babble. As Squall looked around for somewhere to sit, he noticed in the little corner of the room the spot where the three invariably end up sitting, at a rickety, old table in a little corner of the cafeteria. The three tables in its immediate vicinity were bare as no other students dared to sit near them in fear of catching their uncool-ness. Realizing the hardships they go through so that everyone else can live normal lives, it seemed unnecessarily cruel. As he started to walk toward them to keep them company, Bartz noticed Squall walking toward them and ran up to him.

"Squall, what are you doing?" Bartz asked, looking over Squall's shoulder to make sure no one else saw. "You need to keep up the sense of 'normal.' This morning was weird enough for everyone. Think of your reputation."

"Do you think _that_ is fair?" Squall asked in response, pointing to the empty tables that acted as a metaphorical wall between them and everyone else.

"No, but it is how it is." Bartz pulled Squall aside to have a more private conversation. "Look, I understand, and I appreciate it. Really, I do. But, if you continue to associate with us, everyone will turn on you."

"So? Let them. I don't need them anyway."

"Not even Rinoa?"

Squall opened his mouth as if he wanted something, but closed it again and sighed, knowing Bartz was right.

"Wanna know how unpopular we are? Not many people know Vaan and Terra are dating. I think the only ones who do are you, me, Zidane, and Garnet. And, well, them _obviously_, but you get what I'm saying."

Squall sighed, scratching his head. "Fine, you win."

"Oh, before you go, you might want to, um… 'Rough me up' a little, just so no one questions what we talked about."

"Ah, right," Squall said as he grabbed Bartz's shirt and slammed him against a wall. He picked up his voice a bit in case anyone was listening. "And I expect another lunch tomorrow, understand?"

Squall felt Bartz shiver from under his shirt. Whether he was acting, or he was truly shaking, Squall wasn't sure, but the effect was the same.

"Understood, S-Squall!" Bartz stammered, as Squall let go of his shirt. He smoothed out the wrinkles before rejoining his brothers at their lone table.

Squall sighed not feeling right at _all_ about what he just did. Sure, before yesterday, he would do something like that without a moment's notice. Hell, he even somewhat _enjoyed_ watching them squirm as they were stuffed into their own lockers. But, now… He wanted to vomit. He wasn't sure if he could eat the wonderful meal that waited in his bag.

To snap him out of his thoughts, a big slap hit him on the back. After a quick cough as the wind was somewhat knocked out of him, he could see Seifer was the owner of the hand.

"Ah, there, you see? That's how things _should_ be," Seifer said, guiding Squall to the other end of the cafeteria and away from his three _real_ friends.

"I guess I was still a little sleepy after my long day yesterday."

"Eh, don't sweat it. It happens. One time, I feel half-asleep in Dr. Exodus's class from those boring lectures and dreamed I _was_ a tree. Sadly, it was more interesting than actually learning about them."

"SQUALL!" a voice shouted in the distance. As Squall looked in the direction of the voice, he could see Rinoa, his sweetheart, waving at him inviting him over. Seifer pushed Squall along to sit with her, as Seifer and the rest of his posse sat at an adjacent table.

"Squall, I heard rumors that you were _friends_ with those three. People saw you walk in school with them. Is it true?"

"N-No! It's nothing like that! Tutoring them last night took longer than I expected, and I spent the night. As thanks, I brought them into school with me. That's all. I'm just tutoring them because I was told to. That's _all_," Squall lied. He really did want to say they were friends from a world where magic was real and fairytales were true. But, really, who would believe him? If someone told him before the day before, he'd think they were just as crazy. "S-Sorry, Rinoa, I'm just having a really hard day."

"Alright, I'll quell those nasty rumors right now," she said, stealthily texting her girl friends with her illegal cell phone. "Oh, Seifer told me about that scar. Does it hurt?"

"Nah, it's fine. It stung a bit at first, but I barely notice it now."

"Oh, well, I think it looks good on your face, surprisingly, like it was always meant to be there, you know?"

Squall laughed nervously at that statement. "Ha, yeah. Weird, huh?"

Squall began to unfold the lunch that Bartz packed for him, er, that Squall "stole" from Bartz. He pulled out a sandwich wrapped in tin-foil, which he assumed was the BLT that Zidane mentioned, a cup of strawberry yogurt, a granola bar, a bottle of iced tea, and, oh man, chocolate-chip cookies! It was strange, the yogurt and iced tea felt cool to the touch, while the cookies, despite being in the same lunch container, were piping hot as if fresh from the oven.

"Magic?" Squall couldn't help but say out loud, noticing the strange paradoxes.

"What was that, Squall?"

"Nothing!" He unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. The lettuce was fresh and crisp, and the tomatoes extra juicy. There was just enough bacon to constitute it being a BLT, but it really wasn't necessary. There was also a light helping of vinaigrette dressing to add just a splash of flavor to the vegetables. The rye bread that sandwiched the, well, sandwich soaked up the juices from the crisps and added to the flavor of the overall sandwich.

"_Damnit, Bartz, no wonder Seifer's always stealing your lunch."_

"Hey, Squall?"

When he heard the voice from behind him, he nearly choked on the bite in his mouth. He turned around to see Bartz and wondered what he was doing here. As he wiped up the juices from the sandwich that started to drip down his chin, Rinoa addressed Bartz in a displeased manner.

"And, what do _you_ want?" she asked with her arms folded.

"S-Sorry, Rinoa. I just need to talk to Squall about tutoring tonight."

Having wiped the tomato juice from his chin, Squall could final speak again. "What's up, Bartz?"

"Uh, I'll be a little late today. I need to run a few errands around town. We're meeting at your place tonight, right?"

"Uh, yeah, that's fine. What 'errands'?"

"Um… It's that time of the month…" Rinoa couldn't help but giggle at Bartz's choice of words. "I always visit a friend in the hospital around this time."

"Oh, what friend, Bartz?" Rinoa was now somewhat curious that Bartz actually had someone he could consider a friend.

"Um… C-Cloud…" he answered looking down bashfully. "He's been in a coma for a while now, and I always bring him flowers at about this time, and-…"

"Alright. How about we do them together? I assume you'd walk or take the bus between places. It'd be faster if we used my car."

"Squall, I couldn't ask you to do that."

"That's why I'm insisting."

"Thanks," Bartz said with a smile, before bowing out to return to his secluded corner of the cafeteria.

Rinoa glared at Squall with the same patented, icy stare that Squall was most known for. "Not friends my foot! You were awful quick to offer to drive him around, Squall!"

"It's not like that! The sooner we get tutoring out of the way, the sooner he goes home. Heck, if he's going to be late, that means the later we get started and the later he leaves."

"Fine. Fine," she said, not fully believing him.

And, so, they ate in their awkward silence, his heart torn from the conflicting memories of his two selves that now guided his life.

Sighing, he thought to himself, _"This is going to be a really, long day."_

**Boy, everyone's got it rough, huh? Squall's got to keep up his reputation, while the three have to deal with being on the bottom rung of the social ladder.**

**They're poking fun at their outfits again. Oh, Square, you make your boys wear the weirdest stuff, don't you?**

**So, in case it wasn't clear, Sephiroth's the math teacher. Exdeath runs biology. Shantotto has history. Minwu is the nurse (he's a white mage). And, Cid Highwind is the shop teacher.**

**Wow, Rinoa's a bit of a jerk, huh? I guess that's what happens if Ultimecia is your mom. Squall and Seifer are besties? Boy, what am I thinking? Crazy, crazy shenanigans, that's what. And, oh god, **_**Kuja and Kefka are a couple **_**and**_** Terra's "parents."**_** That can't possibly end well.**

**Next chapter: The second half of Squall's hectic school day, Bartz's errands, and Cloud's hospital visit.**


	8. Forget Me Not

**Yeah, I realize I update fast, but when you're unemployed and the creativity gremlins keep pestering you, these things happen.**

**Oh, there is also a minor spoiler for FFXIII in this chapter. Just thought I should warn you.**

**Happy 8/5 day!  
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"_The first step on the road to Recovery is Forgiveness."_

Once Squall finished his lunch, he excused himself from Rinoa and went outside in the little courtyard right outside the cafeteria to soak up the sun and fresh air for a moment. Squall needed some time to be alone with his thoughts. He studied his hand for a few moments thinking on those times. As he lost himself in the memories of the friends "he" knew, he didn't realize that Rinoa was sneaking up on him.

She covered his eyes with her hands and spoke softly in his ear, "Guess who?"

"Rinoa…"

"Bingo!" she exclaimed with a giggle as she removed her hands. "Something wrong, Squall? You're unusually quiet… and talkative."

Squall looked to his right, unable to look her in the eye.

"… You really _are_ friends with them, aren't you?"

He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "I can't hide anything from you, can I?"

Rinoa wrapped her arms around Squall's neck and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Nope." She brought her head to a rest on his shoulder. "Why the sudden change, though? The day before, you wouldn't be caught dead with them unless you had to, but now…"

"Rinoa, they have it so hard. They're the only people they have left in the world. They have it hard enough without me taking their lunches or stuffing them in their lockers. They always look so happy, when, in reality, they're so sad. It's just not fair to them."

"So, you're friends with them because you're sorry for them?"

"No! No, it's nothing like that." Squall sighed as he tried to find the words to explain without mentioning his second set of memories. "It's just, I dunno, I feel this sort of _kinship_ with them."

"Oh, is that how it is?"

"You're not mad, are you?"

"They only thing I'm mad about is you lying to my face," she said as she flicked his nose. "Squall, we're supposed to be boyfriend and girlfriend. We can talk to each other about anything, can't we?"

"I was kinda afraid you'd dump me."

"Squall, I thought you knew me well enough to know I'm not that shallow. Selphie, maybe, but not me." She began to rub Squall's scar. It was still a little tender, but her soothing touch kinda made it tickle. "I won't dump you over your choice of friends."

Squall gave her one of his rare smiles. "Thanks, Rinoa. That means a lot to me."

"No problem!" she squeaked with a tightening of her embrace. "Oh, but maybe you can confirm something for me. I heard rumors that Vaan and _Terra_ were dating! Is it true?"

"Rinoa…"

"What? A girl's gotta stay on top of the gossip, you know…"

After lunch was Squall's other elective, Music, although Squall wasn't the one who chose his elective. His father, Laguna, did Squall the "favor" and signed him up for it. "You need some culture in your life!" he said. "Expand your horizontals (though Squall was sure he meant 'horizons')!" Bah, Squall hated this class. It was for more artistically inclined people, and while Squall was _good_ at playing the piano and dancing, he didn't particularly like it.

"Oh, crap… I nearly forgot. _He's_ the teacher," Squall thought out loud as he made it down the hall of the music wing toward class. From their conversation earlier, Vaan told him that Kuja was one of Terra's uncles… and he just so happened to be the school's music teacher. It was now clear to him why Zidane and Terra were both in this class. Zidane wanted to spend time with his "brother," while Terra wanted to be with her uncle.

In class, Squall took his seat next to Terra, a normally quiet and timid girl. Her dirty-blond hair was tied in a ponytail and held together by a pink ribbon. Her indigo-colored eyes were staring at the door as she patiently waited for her uncle to arrive to teach class.

"Hello, Terra," Squall greeted, which made Terra nearly jump out of her seat.

She played with a stray strand of her bangs, and, in her timid manner, responded. "H-Hello, Squall. C-Can I help you?"

"No, no, I was just saying hi." Squall took out a small piece of paper and began to write something down on it. He handed it to Terra, in which she unfolded it and squeaked in shock.

"You know?"

"It's okay, I won't tell. It was more a slip of the tongue on Vaan's part."

She stopped playing with her hair. "We've been dating for eight months. It took a while for Vaan to muster up the courage. It was really cute." She giggled, apparently a little more comfortable conversing now. "He gave me this ribbon too for our two month anniversary. He said he thought my hair would look cuter if it was tied in a ponytail."

"_Wow, Vaan. That was surprisingly smooth,"_ Squall mentally complimented.

"It's a shame what happened to them though…"

"You mean their brother?"

"Ah, you know about that too? I'm shocked they told you so soon. It took Vaan a month before he could tell me the whole story." She looked down at her lap, her musical instrument, the clarinet, still in pieces as Squall interrupted her putting it together.

"Is that why you've been so fiercely protesting the war?"

"Yeah," she affirmed with a nod. "People have been going overseas to fight a war that no one seems to be winning as more and more people die every day. It makes me wonder: What's the point of it all? People die, and families suffer. It's not fair."

"Yeah…" he said as the two looked at Zidane who was dreamily starring at Garnet who sat across the way. The door opened and their teacher, Mr. Kuja Palazzo, walked in with such grace that it looked like he was skating on air. His silver-lavender hair was well-kept as it appeared fluffy and soft. It was accented by two feathers on the top of his head in the same silver-lavender color as his bangs framed his face. His violet eyes were framed by red mascara, and his lips were stained in a lilac color. He wore a royal blue coat with puffed sleeves that ended in black cuffs and tailed out behind him. He wore pants in the same royal blue color (which Squall was mentally thankful for), and shining black-and-white spats. He lifted his well-manicured hands as his artsy voice rang out in the room, bouncing around in the room's acoustics.

"Hello, again, dear friends!" The students shifted in their seats to look at their rather flamboyant teacher. "Let us begin our lovely symphony today!"

Squall grunted as that was the cue for him to take his seat at the piano. Squall hated this instrument with every fiber of his being, but, perhaps as some cruel prank, he was really, really good at it. His fingers danced over the ivory keys, commanding them to play their notes. He was soon swept up in the music of Mozart and Chopin as the class period ended before he realized time even passed. A tap on the shoulder snapped him out of his trance.

"Wonderful as always, Mr. Loire," Kuja complimented in his artsy manner.

"I told you, it's Squall."

"Ah, but one whose hand can make such art… It would be an insult to address you so informally."

Squall grunted and rolled his eyes as he grabbed his things to go. Zidane gave him a quick wave before he dashed out the door to his next class.

Walking down the hall to his next class, he made a mental check-list. "All that's left is English Lit and Calc, huh?" He was silently dreading Calculus. The material itself wasn't hard, or at least, not to Squall, but the teacher… Oh god, _everyone_ was afraid of Mr. Hojo. Squall, now, knew they reason why.

"_Sephiroth…"_ he thought as he cringed. The One-Winged Angel, the fallen hero, the man with the 7-foot-long katana, and the man that personified Cloud's darkness. In every way that Kefka was crazy, Sephiroth was terrifying. The few sword clashes that "he" shared with him, Squall knew how powerful Sephiroth was.

Well, that was one class later. For now, he had English Literature to deal with. As he walked in the door and took his seat at his desk in the blue painted classroom, the teacher sat at his desk, nose buried in his favorite book, as always. His dark-red hair that lay were it fell obscured his eyes and black-half frame reading-glasses. His red, collared shirt was decorated with a simple, black tie as he waited for a good point in his book to take a break. Having found it, he placed his book-mark in the book and closed it with a slam, rising from his swivel chair from behind the desk. As he walked, his dark trousers scraped against each other adding a little music with each step.

"Welcome again to English Literature, Class. Please take out your assigned books and turn to chapter 4. Who would like to start?"

"Oh, I would, !" volunteered a dyed-blond-haired youth, his routes showing his natural color of a darker brown.

"Very well, Tidus. Begin. And, I hope you read with the same enthusiasm!"

To be honest, Squall didn't really like LOVELESS all that much, and it really wasn't a part of the school's curriculum. That didn't stop Genesis G. Rhapsodos from teaching it to every class he ever taught, often citing it as a work of true, written art. Since it was the teacher's favorite written work, if you _didn't_ pay attention to it, you were doomed to failure in his class. Squall took lots of notes on the book and did his best to understand the material. He really wanted to keep his grades up, so he could get into the best college he could, War of the Gods be damned.

After English Lit was taken care of, Squall tried to steady himself for his next class. He could feel his heart race and his hands become dry and clammy. Squall mentally slapped himself.

"Just remember what Vaan told you, 'Who they are in the mirror aren't who they are in real life,'" he said to himself to reassure himself. Putting on his best stoic face, Squall entered the room and took his seat.

Mr. Sephiroth Hojo was busy writing long, complex equations on the board as he prepared for the class, his long, silver hair gently flowing like a stream with each movement of his body. Mr. Hojo turned his head when Squall walked in, his bright, green eyes watching as Squall took his seat in the second row of the classroom, and then returning to his equations.

There was a shuffle of papers as the students took out their math homework from last night and began to write down the equations on the board in their open notebooks. Sephiroth, in a simple white polo, dark trousers, and black tie, stood in the front of the class, pointer stick thwacking against the board as students bravely volunteered to answer the questions. Surprisingly, Squall was rather comfortable in this class, maybe because he was already somewhat afraid of Mr. Hojo anyway. Realizing he was Sephiroth seemed to calm him down as he now had a reason for the fear.

As the bell for the end of the day rang, Squall began to pack up his stuff in his bag as Mr. Hojo called out to him.

"Squall, may I have a word with you?" his somewhat deep voice asked.

The voice was like a piercing arrow that snapped Squall out of the thoughts of meeting with Bartz after this class. He unintentionally cringed, fearing that his pointer was going to turn into Sephiroth's trademark Masamune. "Yes, Mr. Hojo?"

"How goes the tutoring, Squall?"

Squall was taken aback. "You know about it?"

"Well, word travels fast around school," he chuckled. "Actually, I was the one who suggested it to Laguna, or rather, your father."

"Ah."

Mr. Hojo began to look out the window. "Those poor boys… I can't believe all of that happened because of my son…"

"Huh?"

He turned his head to look at Squall. "Cloud is my son, though we're estranged. He uses my ex-wife's name. She passed away shortly after Cloud went off to war. I got him transferred here after the incident and have been paying his hospital bills ever since." He chuckled again. "It's not easy on a teacher's salary."

"Yeah, I bet."

"That Bartz boy… He's going to visit him again today." So, Mr. Hojo was aware of Bartz's habits too. "I wonder if he blames Cloud for what happened."

"No, I don't think so," Squall began. "He's not the type to hold grudges, especially since, despite all the things I've done to him, he still opened up to me."

Mr. Hojo gave a quick laugh as he smiled. "It takes a special kind of someone to forgive so easily."

Squall, now also looking out the window, added, "It does. It really does."

Squall rummaged through his locker to put away the books he didn't need and take the ones he did. He reached for his jacket as he heard a slam against the locker next to him, though the open door of his locker obscured his vision of who it was.

"WHAT THE HELL, SQUALL?"

"_That voice… Seifer."_ Great. He did not sound pleased. "What do you want, now, Seifer?"

"Not only did Rinoa just told me that you are, in fact, _friends_ with those chickenwusses, but she asked me to stop picking on them too? WHAT THE HELL, MAN?"

Squall, now having his things for the evening, slammed his locker shut and looked Seifer in the eyes with his patented, icy stare. "What's wrong with that? They have life hard enough without us adding to their troubles."

"Man, I thought we were friends, one true posse. What happened?"

"We still are, aren't we? When did I saw we stopped being friends?"

"The moment you said you were friends with them."

"What, I can't be friends with you both?"

"It's either me or them, Squall. Pick."

Squall looked down at his feet for a moment. Cosmos's warning about his relationships with people changing was true. He was losing Seifer as a friend because he was gaining those three as friends. "Fine," he finally spoke. "I pick them."

"What? Why?"

"Because, if you can't accept my friends, then I can't accept you. Rinoa did, and I hoped you would. But, if you can't, then maybe we weren't friends at all. Bartz even went out of his way to keep up the illusion that we weren't friends, even asking me to rough him up today."

Seifer was now furious. Squall could see the anger in his eyes as Seifer clenched his fists in frustration. Seifer punched the locker again with such force, Squall was shocked there wasn't a dent in it.

"Fine. If that's how you want to play it, consider our 'friendship' over. The school will turn on you faster than I can stuff them in their lockers. I'll make sure of that."

"Go ahead. See if I care."

With that, Squall turned to leave, leaving a very confused, angry, and frustrated Seifer vow that he would get even with Squall.

Squall made his way to the student parking lot as Bartz and his brothers patiently waited by Squall's car. He silently waved to them, and they waved back in acknowledgment.

Having finally made it to his car, Squall began to apologize for being so late. "Sorry, guys. I got caught up in some things."

"Nah, it's cool," Vaan began, folding his arms behind his head. "Stuff happens."

"So, we're going to your place tonight?" Zidane asked.

Squall took out his keys and unlocked the door for himself and Bartz. "Yeah. You guys might want to go meet my dad. He'll give you a lift to my house, and keep you entertained while I'm out."

Vaan chuckled, remembering from his other memories the time he hung out with Laguna. "So, he's in his office right?"

"Should be."

"Alright, me and Zidane will head over there." The two waved good-bye to Bartz and Squall. "See you guys later!" And they ran back inside to find Laguna.

Squall climbed into the driver's seat, while Bartz took the passenger's seat, yet again.

"So, where to?"

"Uh, the Fynn Flower Shop," Bartz answered, pointing in its general direction from the school. "And, step on it!"

"Bartz…"

"Sorry, couldn't help myself."

With directions from Bartz, Squall pulled up to a small building with an attached greenhouse on the edge of town, right before the road that led out into the country and Bartz's eventual ranch. The building itself was a little run-down as the white paint that covered wood that made up the building started to peel away, leaving the old, brown planks exposed to the elements. There were a lot of windows in the front of the shop, and, looking past "his" reflection, Squall could see a pink-haired woman in the shop behind the counter.

"Wait, is that-?" Squall began to ask.

"Lightning? Yup," Bartz said as he reached for the dirty, bronze doorknob. "You think that's shocking, wait till you see who she works with."

As soon as Bartz opened the door, Squall was hit with the moist air from inside as the scents of hundreds of flowers flowed into his nose. A little bell rung when the door opened, causing Lightning, er, Claire Farron to look up from the book she was reading to look at who just walked in. Her pale, green eyes studied the two who walked in, and gently smiled when she saw Bartz.

"Hello, again, Bartz. Is it that time again?" she asked with her calm, and somewhat harsh, voice.

"Yeah, unfortunately."

"Who's your friend?" noting the young brunette with blue eyes that walked in too.

"Oh, right," Bartz said while smacking his forehead. "Claire, this is Squall Lio-er, _Loire_. Squall, this is Claire Farron."

"'_Claire'? Huh, so that's her real name,"_ Squall thought. "Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Farron," he said as Squall and Clair shook hands, even though they kinda already met before.

"Please, call me 'Lightning.'"

"Uh, okay, Lightning."

Lightning turned to the back and shouted at whoever was back there that was out of sight. "Hey! Bartz's here for his order!"

A voice shouted back. "Alright, be right there!"

As Squall heard shuffling and crinkling of cellophane, Bartz started to wander off in the store to smell the flowers.

"So, do you know their story?" Lightning suddenly asked.

Squall looked at her, noticing she was watching Bartz wander through the store, sniffing various flowers with a big grin on his face. "About their brother?" Lightning squinted, her focus tightening on Bartz. Squall took this as a silent yes. "Yeah, why?"

"I assume you know the three of them worshiped the ground their brother walked on, but, you know, Reks admired those three just as much."

"Huh? Really?"

"Reks was so happy that they got along so wonderfully despite their radically different origins and ethnicities. When the news was saying we were enemies, those four called each other brothers and meant it every time." Squall quietly listened as Lightning recounted her few moments with Reks Klauser. "Reks was always going on about how much he loved his brothers, and how much he hoped to end the war, so he could go home to be with them. We often remarked that he was too kind to be a soldier, but he knew that he wanted to be here to protect not just his brothers, but the brothers of people he never met. Reks really was a hero despite what they say, and I think he has his brothers to thank for that."

"That's right. The day Reks died was a truly the saddest day in history," a new, yet familiar voice said from behind them.

"Ah, there you are, Firion," Lightning commented.

"_F-Firion? You're kidding!"_ Squall thought. The Firion that stood next to Lightning holding Bartz's order of flowers had his silver-gray hair tied back by a simple orange bandana. His earthy-brown eyes starred at the brunette in front of him, an unusual face in the establishment. His clothes were covered by a green, pleather apron and his hands were covered in green, rubber gloves. He was a few years older than the Firion "he" remembered though. He looked to be about the same age as Lightning.

"Who's this, Light?" Firion asked.

"Um, I'm Squall Loire, sir. Bartz's friend."

"Oh, I see," he answered, placing down Bartz's flowers and taking off one of his rubber gloves. "Firion Rosell. Good to meet you, Squall."

"Uh, likewise," he stammered shaking Firion's extended hand.

"Firion's the head flower-arranger here," Bartz said from behind Squall, causing Squall to jump a bit from surprise.

"Bartz, don't do that."

"Heh, sorry, but I'm a ninja like that," he said with a chuckle. "So, Firion, you propose to Light yet?"

Bartz was shoved by a now blushing Lightning as he fell over on his butt giggling. Firion started blushing too as he and Lightning were unable to make eye-contact and fought off their building smiles. Squall just starred at the three of them in stunned silence, unable to comprehend what he just saw. After a few minutes, everyone recovered enough for Bartz to pay for the flowers and continue on his way. As Bartz waved good-bye to them, Squall noticed that their faces were still the same color pink as Lightning's hair and did his best to stifle a building laugh.

The two filed back into Squall's car. Bartz placed the bouquet of strange flowers on his lap. The bouquet was made of four different kinds of flowers. The first flower was a flower Squall recognized. It was a pink rose that seemed to shimmer in the sunlight, the Wild Rose. The next flower was a strange bloom. The flower seemed to have two layers of blooms. The first one was blackish-purple that surrounded the closed second bloom of gleaming, white petals. The next flower Squall noticed looked like Baby's breath, only the small flowers looked like tiny crystal bubbles extending from their stems. The final flower looked like the head of a yellow chocobo, but they seemed to be wilted as they were drooping.

Bartz noticed that Squall was looking at the flowers. "Oh, it's a bouquet of Wild Roses," Bartz began to explain as he pointed to the pink rose. "Soul Shifters," he said pointing to the black and white double-flower. "Crystal Brotherhoods," he added pointing to the crystal-like flowers. "And, Chocobo Heads," he finished as he pointed to the yellow flowers. "They kinda remind you of people, don't they?"

It was true. The Wild Rose was Firion, no doubt, but the other flowers reminded him of some of the other Warriors from the war. The Soul Shifter definitely screamed Cecil and his Dark Knight and Paladin forms. The Crystal Brotherhood reminded Squall of Tidus's sword and his generally bubbly personality. The Chocobo Heads and the way they always drooped was Cloud for certain. If the four of them had flowers that seemed to mimic them, did the others have flowers as well?

"I thought Cloud being surrounded by his 'friends' would help wake him up, you know?" he said, noting the similarities between the flowers and the Warriors. "I always wait until the night of the first full moon to pick these up because the Soul Shifters open up their second bloom during the full moon."

"Oh, I see."

"Yup."

Squall and Bartz piled out of the car after having traveled across town yet again to make it to the hospital Cloud was being treated at. Squall followed Bartz as Bartz led them to Cloud's room, room 637 in the coma wing. Having made it to the faux-wood door, the door to the room was closed. Bartz gently knocked on the door three times.

"Hello? Is someone in there? It's me, Bartz," he said softly through the door.

After a few moments, the door opened as a well-toned, fair-skinned man with black, somewhat spiked hair with one long bang that fell over his face stood in the door way. He had sky, blue eyes and a x-shaped scar on his left cheek. He wore a black turtle-neck and blue, denim jeans.

"Bartz!" he exclaimed, giving Bartz a big, bone-crushing hug.

"H-Hey, Zack!" he managed to squeak out as his lungs struggled to fill with air. Zack, realizing he was suffocating Bartz, quickly released his grip as Bartz gasped for air.

After a quick chuckle, Zack turned to Squall. "Howdy! Zack Fair," he introduced himself, extending a hand to Squall.

"Squall Loire," he answered back, shaking his hand. After the quick hand shake, Squall shook out his own hand to fight back the pain from his intense grip. Zack couldn't help but laugh again.

Bartz, still coughing a bit for air, still managed to choke out a question. "A-Any change?"

"See for yourself," he said, pointing his thumb back in the room. The two craned their necks around Zack to look inside. Attached to a multitude of machines and wires was a young, blond man with hair that seemed to give gravity the big, beefy middle-finger. The wires from the machines laced his body as they whirred and buzzed, monitoring his unchanging condition. His body seemed lanky and thin, but that was to be expected on his liquid diet. The broken form before them was Cloud Strife, the man that Cosmos failed to Awaken, and the man who unintentionally tore a family apart.

Next to the bed sat two young females. One of them had brown hair tied in a braided ponytail held by a pink bow and wore a long pink dress over brown boots. The other female had long, black hair tied in a loose ponytail at the end, wore a white, sleeveless top, black shorts, and red boots. The two looked back to see who it was at the door, the brunette's green eyes and the darker-brunette's maroon eyes lighting up upon seeing Bartz.

"Hey, Bartz," the darker-brunette said.

"Hey, Tifa, Aerith."

Aerith, the lighter brunette, noticed Squall was also in the doorway. "Who's your friend, Bartz?"

"Oh, this is Squall," Bartz answered as he pointed to Squall. "Squall, that's Aerith Gainsborough and Tifa Lockhart."

Squall found himself shaking the hands of the two young women as they all greeted each other.

"Aerith's quite the looker, ain't she, Squall?" Zack asked from behind the two of them, causing Squall to look back at him slightly startled. "Keep your hands off though, she's mine."

"Huh?"

"He's saying Aerith's his fiancé," Bartz explained.

"Oh, congratulations. When's the wedding?"

"Whenever Sleeping Beauty here wakes up," Zack said pointing at Cloud.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Aerith waved off his apology. "No, it's alright. It was a promise we all made. Before everyone went off to war, Zack proposed to me. Of course, everyone was happy for us. They all promised to survive the war, so that they could all be there to celebrate with us."

"Which is why we'll hold off the wedding as long as we have to until Cloud decides to wake up," Zack added.

"It's a shame Reks won't be there, though…" Tifa spoke.

"I'm sure he'll be there in spirit!" Bartz exclaimed. "And, besides, we'll be there in his place!"

Zack put Bartz's head in a head-lock as he began to give him a noogie. "I was hoping you'd say that."

Bartz flailed his free arm in protest. "Ack! No! Stop!" His plees were useless as Bartz was unable to break Zack's grip.

Having sufficiently ruffled Bartz's hair, Zack released his grip and showed the two ladies and himself out to give Bartz and Squall some private time with Cloud. Bartz took the empty vase that stood on the small table next to Cloud's bed and went into the bathroom to fill it with water for the flowers. As the sound of running water filled the air, Squall sat cross-armed next to Cloud's bed. He grunted as the machines periodically beeped indicated they were still working.

"Cloud," he began. "What are you doing sleeping here? What? Is life that bad? Or, can you not face what you did to them?" Cloud remained as still as ever. "Sure, I know nothing of your 'other-life,' and you know what? I don't care. Those three lost the two most important people in the world because of you, and, yet, they continue to face life with a smile on their faces. You don't think they've had it hard? You're dead wrong."

Squall stopped talking when he heard the water shut off, and Bartz emerged from the bathroom humming with the glass vase in his hands. Bartz sauntered across the room placing the vase back on the table he plucked it from. He unwrapped the flowers from their cellophane encasing and placed the grateful flowers in the water. After a bit of bouquet fluffing, Bartz took a seat next to Squall.

"Hey, Cloud? How's it been?" he began. "We fought another Warrior of Chaos yesterday. It was Ultimecia this time. Oh, but that's not the best part! Squall Awakened yesterday too, and now we have someone else to talk to!"

Bartz began recounting the tale of their fight with Ultimecia to the sleeping Cloud, while Squall starred at Cloud with his icy, cold glare. He wasn't really paying attention to Bartz's spirited story, mainly because he already lived it, but also because he was just too angry at Cloud to pay attention.

After Bartz told Cloud about some of their other battles during the month and Squall's tutoring arrangement, Bartz got up to leave causing Squall to follow suit. Just as soon as Squall got up, he felt something grab his wrist. Turning, he saw that Cloud, amazingly, was awake! Though, the elation was short-lived as Cloud suddenly summoned his humongous sword in his other hand, the Buster Sword, and attempted to impale Squall with the over-sized blade. Squall tried to wrestle his wrist free from Cloud's grip as he barely managed to dodge to the right of the thrust.

Squall, still in Cloud's tight grip, yelled at him. "What the hell, man? I'm your side, remember?"

Cloud slowly picked himself up out of bed as the wires and tubes seemed to jettison themselves from his body. His SOLDIER uniform, a black, turtle-neck sweater, brown suspenders attached to a brown, leather belt, a silver paldron, metal bracer on his left wrist, dark pants, and black combat boots, became visible as the blanket no longer covered his body.

"Sephiroth…" he mumbled, causing Squall to gasp. The sword in Cloud's hand disappeared as the now-free hand grabbed his shoulder. "SEPHIROTH!" he screamed as he dragged himself and Squall through the window, causing it to shatter as the two of them fell. Suddenly, everything seemed to move in slow motion as Squall began the bone-crushing decent to the pavement below. Squall could only look back in shock as glass shards flew by his face, his body numb from what just transpired as Cloud's eyes were full of murderous rage. The next thing Squall saw was Bartz, amazingly, diving after them through the broken window, purple Crystal in his outstretched arm. When Bartz was close enough to them, the Crystal began to glow in a bright, yellow light as Squall's vision went hazy…

**Woah, long chapter, huh? Rinoa and Squall are still on speaking terms, but it seems as though Squall and Seifer's friendship is over. Seifer's new goal in life is to make Squall and his new posse's lives hell. Goodie for them.**

**We know Squall can dance from his time in FF8, but his ability to play piano is a reference to Piano Squall. :B And, yes, Squall uses his father's name here.**

**Of course Genesis would find a way to spread the word of LOVELESS, wouldn't he? And, Sephiroth's got quite the reputation, don't he? He just looks scary, but he really isn't. And, yes, Sephiroth really **_**is**_** Cloud's daddy, though his mom isn't Jenova (but his grandmom is. :B). He's also quite considerate, considering he's the one who suggested Squall tutor them in hopes of getting them to open up about the event.**

**Oh, Bartz. Shipping Lightning and Firion together is Cecil's job, not yours, you silly, silly mime. And, yay, Zack and Aerith! Now that Cloud's awake, you guys can get married, as long as he doesn't murder Squall, that is.**

**Next chapter: Cloud's rampage. Will Squall and Bartz be able to bring Cloud back to his senses?**


	9. Waking Nightmare

**Warning: Mild spoilers for FFVII contained within. … Although, there's a good chance you already know about them even if you haven't played the game.**

"_The greatest nightmares often follow us into the waking world."_

When Squall was able to see again, the bright, blue sky was replaced by a swirling mass of blues, purples, and blacks. The glass and concrete-lined building shifted into cold, gray bricks and golden, oversized gears. A broken railroad track twisted itself upwards in the middle of the long room. They were teleported to the world between thanks to Bartz's quick thinking and straight into a gate. Here, Ultimecia's Castle would be witness to their battle.

Bartz elegantly flipped in mid-air as his form shifted from his school-uniform-clad self to his Warrior of Light persona. His yellow-pointed boots were now gunning straight for Cloud's back. Squall could tell what Bartz's was up to and began his struggle against Cloud's firm grip again. Getting desperate, Squall did the only thing he could think of and used his head to smack Cloud straight on the forehead. The head-butt temporarily dazed Cloud as his grip slacked just enough for Squall to knee him in the stomach and break free. Squall quickly twisted his body around and grabbed onto the inner rail of the suspended track, his hand and arm not happy about the sudden stop. As Cloud continued to plummet, Bartz drilled hard into his back with his diving kick as the two rocketed into the ground onto the lone structure in a sea of blue, black, and purple swirls below.

Squall pulled out his crystal with his free hand and transformed into his leather ensemble then pulled himself up onto the floating track. Looking over the side, he saw Bartz jump out of the dust cloud that was kicked up upon their impact with the ground and landed on a lower part of the suspended track.

"Squall! You alright?" Bartz called upwards.

"I should be asking you that." Just then, his forehead began to throb from the previous head-butt. "A little sore, but otherwise fine," he added as he began to rub it.

"SEPHIROTH!" Cloud screamed once again as the dust cleared showing he was pretty much unharmed. He then summoned several, mini meteors from his blade.

When Cloud commanded them to fall, Bartz blurted out a "Whoa-oh!" Afterwards, he began to sprint up the makeshift staircase avoiding the kamikaze comets as they destroyed parts of the track behind him. Even after Cloud ran out of meteors, Bartz continued running up the track until he made it to Squall's level. Most of the track behind him was either destroyed or badly charred and too weak to support their weight.

As Bartz took a moment to catch his breath, Squall watched Cloud as he began to run up a near-by pillar to be even with their level, then dashed forward blade first. The two simultaneously jumped backwards out of the way.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Cloud?" Squall called out to him.

"We're not your enemies!" Bartz added.

"SHUT UP, SEPHIROTH!" he screamed again. "Your mind tricks won't work on me! One, two, ten, one-hundred… I'LL CUT EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU DOWN AS MANY TIMES AS IT TAKES!"

"I think he's finally lost it," Bartz commented.

"I'm not sure he ever _had_ it to begin with," Squall added.

Cloud swung his sword overhead with such force, that the air itself became a razor-sharp gust gunning for the two of them. The two of them braced themselves. Squall held his ground, but Bartz was swept up in the gust as the wind cut his flesh. Bartz was propelled back toward a ledge covered in golden gears as Cloud chased after him reading a massive swing with his giant sword. Squall countered by charging his Gunblade with a blue energy. Using this energy, he rocketed through the air and sliced Cloud in the back causing him to slam into the wall. Bartz twisted his body around to land on the wall, then push off and land on the ground. His clothes were a little torn and his arms were a bit bloody from the wind gusts, but he was otherwise alright.

"_Squall, Bartz!"_ the voice of Cosmos in their head called. _"What is happening? I had sensed a door open, but no Warrior of Chaos Awakened."_

"It's Cloud!" Bartz answered out loud. "He's awake!"

"_Cloud?"_

"Something's wrong though, Cosmos," Squall continued. "I think he thinks we're Sephiroth."

"_Goodness!"_

"He's obviously crazy if he thinks _I'm_ Sephiroth," said Bartz.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Before Bartz could answer, the two of them dodged three incoming fireballs that exploded where they were previously standing.

As Cloud picked himself off the wall pretty much undamaged, Bartz wondered out loud, "God, what is that guy made of, Adamantium?"

"_I'll call Vaan and Zidane here-"_

"Cosmos, wait!" Squall interrupted. "I think that would hurt more than it will help."

"_I'm sorry?"_

"If Cloud sees us as Sephiroth, he might see them as Sephiroth too. We don't want to hurt him."

"And we _definitely_ don't want him to hurt us, either," Bartz added.

"So, just leave this to us, Cosmos."

"Yeah, we'll knock the sense back into him!"

"_Very well. Good luck, boys."_

Cloud charged ahead at Bartz with his sword out in front of him, his trademark Climhazzard attack. Bartz artfully flipped over Cloud and lined himself up at Cloud's now exposed back. Summoning Kain's spear, he slashed twice at his back, and then slammed him downward onto the ledge with Lightning's Blazefire Sabre. Squall continued the attack by charging his Gunblade with a red energy as it drove him forward. The energy picked up Cloud and raked his body before Squall released the attack propelling Cloud into one of the giant gears. Before Cloud could recover, Squall shot four chunks of ice at Cloud's wrists and ankles, freezing them to the giant, bronze gear restricting his movements. After the ice chunks froze him in place, they released a burst of electricity to stun Cloud and disable him. Cloud teetered on the edge of consciousness from the electricity that flowed through his body and the gear he was attached to.

"Even with his enhanced strength, even Cloud won't just walk that off," Squall commented.

"Hopefully he'll stand still long enough for us to put him to sleep long enough for Cosmos to figure out what's wrong."

The duo pulled out their Crystals, bathing Cloud in their radiant light. To Cloud's barely-conscious eyes, however, he saw two Sephiroth with the Black Materia, the Materia that brings forth the calamity known as Meteor. He struggled in vain against the icy restraints as, to his eyes, the Materia charged with energy.

"No…," he mumbled in his half-conscious state. "NO!" Just then, a light erupted in Cloud's own hand. "I won't let you… summon Meteor again!"

"Huh, and here I thought Cloud fixed that little speech impediment," Bartz commented.

Squall then noticed the light of a Crystal that formed in Cloud's hand as the icy restraints began to crack. "Bartz, I need a distraction!"

"Ten-four!" he said with a salute as he desummoned his Crystal. As soon as the light died, Cloud broke free of the ice-shackles and charged again, though his movements were staggered and sluggish. Bartz chucked a Holy orb at Cloud's head in an attempt to get his attention. "Hey, Chocobo head! I'm over here!"

It worked as Cloud started swinging madly at Bartz with his sword in one hand. It didn't take much for Bartz to avoid the one-armed swings in Cloud's delirium which was all Bartz needed to do to keep Cloud distracted. While Bartz was keeping Cloud occupied, Squall quietly snuck up from behind Cloud and smacked Cloud's shoulder with the broad-side of his blade. This caused Cloud to wail in pain and drop his Crystal over the side, and Squall jumped over after it.

During the fall, Squall got a better look at Cloud's Crystal. It was a sea-foam, green-colored orb that both reflected and captured the light in a pattern of swirls on its surface, or, at least, that's how it normally looked. Sticking out of the orb piercing its flawlessly smooth surface was a dark Crystal shard. Squall reached forward and grabbed Cloud's Crystal. Upon doing so, Cloud's memories began to flow into Squall's mind, or rather, the memories of Sephiroth and the deaths of Zack and Aerith.

Fighting through the memories, Squall grabbed at the black splinter in the orb in an attempt to lodge it free from its lecherous spot. As more and more of Cloud's terrible memories entered Squall's mind, the more Squall understood why Cloud didn't want to wake up from his coma. Those kinds of death and destruction have broken even the toughest of men. Still, he wasn't going to let someone else's nightmares from completing his mission. He tugged and pulled at the dark shard, but Cloud's Crystal stubbornly clung to it unable to let the darkness go.

"CLOUD!" Squall called out in between grunts.

Cloud stopped his ruthless assault against Bartz as he finally heard a familiar voice. "S-Squall?"

"They are nothing but bad memories! Let them go!"

"But, Sephiroth is here! I need to stop him! He won't stop until everything and everyone I love is dead and destroyed!"

"Cloud, you idiot, that's Bartz! You're fighting nothing but a bad dream!"

"But-"

"Cloud, remember!" Bartz pleaded, though he still appeared as Sephiroth to Cloud. "That's not the 'real' Sephiroth! The 'real' Sephiroth loves you with all of his heart, like a good father should! The 'real' Sephiroth has waited for six months for his son to open his eyes!"

"The 'real' Zack and Aerith are alive!" Squall continued. "They've been waiting for their best friend to wake up to be there at their wedding! There's no reason to hate this man!"

"CLOUD!" they shouted in unison. "WAKE UP FROM YOUR NIGHTMARE!"

When Cloud heard their words, he dropped his sword, tears flowing from his face as he remembered his times with his father before the divorce. They once went fishing at the river, and Cloud caught a large trout. Sephiroth was so proud of him as he ran his hand through his spikes. Even after the divorce and his mother won full custody, Sephiroth called every day to make sure his son was doing well. Even when he was in a coma, he could vaguely recall Sephiroth, no, his father coming to visit in the early mornings and late evenings.

Squall could feel the dark shard begin to loosen as Cloud began to let go of the darkness in his heart. With one final pull, the shard was dislodged from the Crystal orb as it began to shine brighter than ever.

"Guys," Cloud began as they were back in Cosmos's Sanctuary. "I'm sorry… for the trouble I caused."

"Eh, don't sweat it," Bartz said waving off the apology. "I'm used to helping my bros fight off some pretty scary nightmares, though not quite so literally- OW! That stings, Squall!"

Squall was applying a potion to Bartz's wounded arms. "Hold still, so I can get his over with."

"Alright! Alright!"

With a slight giggle, Cosmos addressed Cloud. "We would appreciate any help you can offer us, Cloud."

"Thanks, but, if it's all the same, I think I've had enough fighting for two lifetimes."

"Just don't be a stranger, okay, Cloud?" urged Bartz.

"Help, but only if you want to. We won't force you into this," added Squall.

"Alright. I will."

"Oh, that reminds me," Bartz began. "What are we going to do about the broken window and falling glass back in our world? That's not something we can easily make people forget."

"Do not worry, Bartz," Cosmos answered. "I shall handle the glass, but the noise is a different story."

"OH! I think I have an idea! Thanks, Cosmos!" he exclaimed as he opened the white gate to return to the hospital room that Cloud called home for six months.

"Anytime, Bartz," she said as she waved them off. Cosmos then summoned the sphere of light that negated the power of the dark crystal that was once a cancer on Cloud's Crystal. She sighed as she looked upward toward the gray, cloudy sky, wondering who was responsible for them.

Back in the hospital room, Bartz and Squall were in their uniforms as Cloud was wearing a hospital gown. Looking around, the room was just as they left it, only the window was completely repaired, almost as if it never shattered in the first place. The machines that were once attached to Cloud's body screamed their mechanical alarms noting that the patient was not on the end of their wires. The three of them could hear frantic footsteps running down the hall as the murmurs of many people seeped through the walls and doors. Bartz quickly ran over to the glass vase and knocked it off the table, causing the glass to shatter upon hitting the ground as glass shards littered the floor and the bodies of flowers oozed water.

"Bartz, what are you-" Squall started to say.

"Ssh!"

The door flew open as doctors in white coats piled into the small room to answer the alert of the machines and find out why they heard glass shatter. To their shock, they saw Cloud out of bed and Bartz picking up the glass vase pieces.

"Oh, hi!" Bartz said still picking up the glass like nothing happened. "What's up, docs?"

Squall rolled his eyes at Bartz's question, but the doctors were more or less used to the question as it didn't seem to faze them. Seeing Cloud in the hospital gown, they were shocked to see him awake. "The patient woke up!"

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that," Bartz lied. "But, he really wanted to get out of bed, so I pulled out all those wires. My bad."

The head doctor coughed as he cleared his throat. "Yes, well, next time, call us down first." The head doctor pulled out his stethoscope and began to give Cloud a check-up to make sure he was completely fine. The other doctors turned to leave as soon as they realized they weren't needed.

As soon as what was happening registered with Squall, he ran into the bathroom to get some paper towels to help clean up the mess. He returned and kneeled down besides Bartz to help mop up the water and glass.

"So, that's why you did that," he whispered to Bartz.

"Yup. Cover story," he whispered back with a nod. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it eventually."

"CLOUD!"

Bartz and Squall looked back at the door to see Zack, Aeirth, and Tifa in the doorway on the verge of tears. Zack ran in the room, carefully stepped over Bartz and Squall, then gave Cloud a big, bone-crushing hug.

"Cloud! Man, it took you long enough to wake up!" he exclaimed, unable to restrain himself.

"Excuse me, but do you mind?" the doctor asked with a rather harsh tone.

He released his hold on Cloud. "Oh, right, right. Sorry. I'll save that for after your check-up."

Tifa, Aerith, Bartz, Squall, and even Cloud did their best to fight off the urge to laugh at Zack's unbridled enthusiasm.

"Boy, crazy day, huh?" Bartz said as the two of them pulled up to Squall's house.

"I'll say."

Squall's house was a colonial-styled house nearly exactly the same as all of the other houses on the street. It was obvious that the houses were all cookie-cutter, easy-assembly buildings to accommodate the rapidly growing population of the once sleepy town. Squall's house was slightly different though as the siding was painted white and the shingles, window covers, and door were painted a bright red. That alone made the house stand out a little more from their tan and brown neighbors. As the two of them walked in, they were greeted by a little, tiled section of floor before a slight rise in the floor to a wall-to-wall carpeted hallway that led to the other rooms and the stairs that led upstairs. Squall showed Bartz into the first room on the right which was the living room. It was rather spacious. It could fit two couches, a large, rectangular, wooden coffee table, a 50-inch plasma screen TV and a fireplace, but still have plenty of room for at least five people to sit on the floor comfortably. Zidane and Vaan were in here working on their homework and watching TruTV on the huge plasma.

"Hey, guys!" Bartz called out, causing the two of them to look up from their work.

"BARTZ!" they shouted in unison as they got up and tackled Bartz for a hug.

"ACK!" he shouted as he was bowled over. "Hey!"

"So, how did your visit go?" Vaan asked.

Zidane was sniffing Bartz's arm. "Bartz, why do you smell like a Potion?"

He shot an angry look at Squall from under the dogpile. "I told you. You should've use Cure."

"Hey, unlike you, I have a limited stock of spells."

"Okay, spill," Vaan said as the two of them got off Bartz. "What happened?"

The four of them looked out into the hallway to make sure the coast was clear. The only living thing in it from what they could see was Squall's cat, a black tabby named Griever. After determining the coast was clear, they began to recount the story of Cloud's "Awakening."

"Whoa, Bartz!" Zidane blurted out after they finished their story. "You _jumped out the window_?"

"Bad-ass!" Vaan added.

"Who jumped out a window?"

The four of them flinched as they looked up to notice that Laguna had overheard at least part of their conversation. Thinking fast, the three brothers started to explain.

"Bartz's character did!" Zidane started.

"Yeah, to get away from an enemy soldier!" Vaan added.

"I was running low on health, so I had to get away for some body armor!" Bartz finished.

Laguna laughed understanding. "Oooooh! You're talking about Call of Halo!"

"Call of _Duty_, Dad," Squall corrected.

"Right, right," he said. "For a moment there, I thought Bartz really _did_ jump out a window. That would just be crazy, right guys?"

"Right… crazy…" the four answered in unison.

**Squall needs to practice his cover stories. But, yeah, Bartz and Squall as Sephiroth? Cloud really must be crazy if he thought **_**Bartz**_** of all people was Sephiroth. Squall is possibly plausible, but Bartz? Yeah, no.**

**But, there was a dark Crystal shard in Cloud's Crystal? How'd that get there?**

**Aw, Sephiroth's such a good daddy, even if the "other" Sephiroth is a mad-man hell-bent on making Cloud's life a living hell.**

**Next time: the Carnival comes to town! Grab your dates and your swords! Wait, that's not right…**


	10. A Day at the Fair

"_Things always seem better if you can smile in spite of it."_

(-)

The rest of the school-week went by without much incident. Squall began to adjust to the bizarre reflections of nearly everyone he saw, though his step-mom's continued to catch him off-guard with its lack of clothes. Still, after Rinoa and Seifer did the school the favor and announce his friendship with the three brothers, it actually seemed to help their popularity more than it hurt his, much to Seifer's annoyance. The three brothers could now move out from their little corner of the cafeteria and sit near the other patrons of the school. Now, Garnet often joined them at their table as everyone traded the snacks in their lunch. Terra, however, was still a little shy to sit with everyone, preferring to eat lunch with her Uncle Kuja, not that Vaan minded though.

"She hates big crowds. I totally understand," Vaan explained to Squall and Rinoa, who was happy to hear the rumors were confirmed.

"Well, I, for one, am glad she has such an understanding boyfriend, right, Squall?" Rinoa asked, stealthily texting Quistis about the confirmed rumor.

"Whatever."

"Hey! You'd better not be texting anyone about this, Rinoa!" Vaan said, noticing Rinoa's sly movements.

"Oh, come on! Not even Quistis?"

"Terra doesn't want the whole school making a big deal about this! She doesn't want the attention."

Rinoa pouted. "Fine," she grumbled, deleting the nearly-complete text. Bartz, Zidane, and Garnet giggled.

"So, Squall, Rinoa," Bartz finally spoke up in hopes to change the subject. "You guys going to the Tantalus Carnival this weekend?"

"That's the carnival that sets up on your ranch at this time of the year, correct?" Garnet asked.

"Yup, that's it!" confirmed Zidane.

Bartz continued. "The three of us are going to help with the games and stuff, and Gilgamesh will be offering chocobo rides!"

"Terra even managed to convince Baku to donate some of the proceeds to the relief effort in Japan," Vaan added.

Rinoa giggled. "Sounds like fun, right, Squall?"

"Whatever."

"That's Squall for 'Yes,'" Rinoa explained with a hint of sarcasm, causing Vaan to fight back a laugh.

"Wait, I thought you three were going to spend this weekend cleaning your room…" Squall asked, finally paying attention to the conversation.

"Uuuuuuh… Next weekend, then. Promise!" Bartz answered.

(-)

The bus that Squall and Rinoa were riding in pulled up to the chocobo ranch, the last stop on its route as all the riders poured out having reached their destination. It was a fairly warm day. Squall half-regretted wearing the black-muscle shirt with a white outline of Griever on the side as it soaked up the sun's rays, but it was one of his favorite shirts. Black fingerless gloves, blue, denim jeans, and black sneakers topped his ensemble. Rinoa decided to wear a sky-blue, sleeveless tube-top with a little wing on the center of her chest with two angel wings on the back. A black, pleather belt was tied around the waist, and black shorts peaked out from under the extra-long top. Black, knee-high boots and blue wrist bands completed her outfit.

Wrapping her arm around Squall's, Rinoa began to drag him toward the game area. "Come on, Squall! Let's have some fun!"

"Alright! Alright! I'm coming," he said as he was dragged along by his date.

They passed by many games you typically see at a fair, ski-ball, whack-a-mole, water-gun racers, knock over the milk bottles-

"Hey, Squall!" a familiar voice nearly shouted.

Running the milk-bottle booth was Vaan and Terra, of all people. Vaan was wearing a white polo shirt with a popped collar, a small, black vest, black basketball shorts, and that same turquoise pendant that he always saw the other-Vaan wear. Terra was wearing a blue half-jacket over a white, sleeveless shirt with a blue, pleated skirt and orange sash-belt. She was quietly waving at the other couple.

"Ah-ha! I finally caught you two together!" Rinoa exclaimed pulling out her cellphone. "Say cheese!"

Before Vaan and Terra had time to react, Rinoa had snapped a decent picture of the two of them with her phone. Terra and Vaan started blushing.

"Welp, I'm satisfied," Rinoa proudly proclaimed as she put her cellphone away again. All Squall could do was face-palm and sigh.

"Sorry, guys," he apologized to Vaan and Terra.

Vaan began to wave off the apology as he added, "Nah, it's cool, right, Terra?"

"I-I guess," she softly answered, playing with a strand of hair again.

Vaan cleared his throat and remembered his job. "So, Squall, wanna throw?" he asked holding a baseball up. "One dollar gets you three balls. Knock all three bottles down to get a prize!"

Honestly, Squall wasn't really interested, but the look from Rinoa, the look of "Please do it for me, please, please, please?" had him pulling out a dollar bill from his wallet. "Fine, but this is the only one, got it?"

"Hey, for every dollar you spend here today is one nickel for Japan!" Vaan proclaimed with enthusiasm as Terra took the bill to put away in the money-box. Vaan took out two more baseballs as he lined the three of them up on the booth for Squall to throw at the pyramid stack of three ivory-white milk-bottles on the table in the back of the stall.

"Get me the cactuar! No, wait, the chocobo! No, maybe the tonberry? NO, DEFINITELY THE MOOGLE!" Rinoa urged as Squall began to line up his first throw, noting the giant, stuffed animals that lined the booth.

Annoyed at the interruption in his concentration, he asked Rinoa, "You mind me actually knocking these down first?"

"Alright! Alright! Gosh!"

After a little giggle from Vaan and Terra, Squall went back to lining up his shot. He didn't have the best arm when it came to throwing things, but he was decent enough that he felt like he could knock these down without much trouble. First throw: missed slightly to the right of the top bottle. Second throw: it hit the lower-left one, but it didn't move enough for it or the top bottle to fall over. Squall was down to his last ball. Now, he had to knock them all over or Rinoa wouldn't let him hear the end of it. He closed his eyes and began to focus. He felt the energies well up from inside of him as his grip on the ball tightened. He exhaled and threw the ball. Next thing he heard was a crash as the ball connected with the milk-bottles. He opened his eyes to see that the bottles were all knocked off the table, but that wasn't all. There was a small, baseball-sized hole in the tarp that lined the back of the stall at the same height where the milk bottles previously stood. Terra was looking out the hole with concern to see if she could spot the stray ball. Rinoa was too shocked to speak.

"I… uh…" Squall stammered as he starred at the hole, unsure what just happened.

Vaan jumped over the booth and started shoving Squall around the booth he and Terra were stationed at. "Uh, Squall an' me will find that ball! The tarp must have been weak there! Too many years of balls whacking it there, you know?" He added a bit of a forced, nervous laugh as the two of them rounded the corner.

When they were in the clear, Vaan turned around and, softly, yelled at Squall. "What the hell, man? You're not supposed to use magic in the real world!"

"S-Sorry! I didn't even realize I was doing it!" Squall said trying to defend himself.

"You've got to be more careful! The last thing I want is to be strapped to a piece of metal as lasers and needles poke and prod every part of my body trying to discover the source of my powers!"

"… You watch _way_ too many sci-fi movies."

"Shut up and help me look for the stupid ball."

(-)

"So… uh… What's he like?" Rinoa asked Terra after the initial shock wore off.

Terra started playing with her hair again. "What's who like, Rinoa?" she asked.

"Vaan, of course! I mean, I know him a little bit from these past few days as a friend, but I want to know what he's like as a boyfriend." She sat on the ledge of the booth as the old wood groaned over the extra weight. "So, come on! Spill!"

"Th-There's nothing really to talk about!"

"Don't get so defensive! I just want to know how long you've been dating, and where you've gone, and what movies you've seen, and if you've gone to second base yet-"

"RINOA!" shouted a new voice from behind her.

Rinoa and Terra turned their attention to the new voice. They saw a very annoyed Yuna followed by a somewhat confused Tidus come up to the stand. Yuna was wearing an ivory white halter top decorated with the outlines of purple hibiscus flowers and a blue, ocean-like skirt held up with a pink belt. Tidus was wearing a simple yellow tee-shirt and black overalls.

"What, Yuna?" Rinoa said with a shrug. "I'm just curious."

"Leave poor Terra alone. You know she's shy. If she doesn't want to talk about it, you shouldn't force her."

"Oh, come on! I can't even get Vaan to talk about their relationship! How am I supposed to keep everyone informed?"

"I think this is _why_ they won't tell you, Rinoa," Tidus answered.

"Shut up, Tidus, I wasn't talking to you."

"Yeash! Touchy." He turned his attention to Terra. "So, Terra, can I play?"

"Um…" she began, still playing with her hair. "C-Can you wait until Vaan gets back with the missing ball?"

"Yeah, sure. We can wait, right, Yuna?"

"Yes, that should be fine," she affirmed with a nod.

(-)

"Ah, geeze…" Vaan whined, still looking around for the stray ball. "This thing went far!"

"God, what a pain," Squall added.

"What'chya dooooin"

The two of them looked up to see that they had made their way to the dunk tank where Bartz in a baggy white tee-shirt and blue swim trunks sat patiently inside.

"Looking for the baseball Squall Rough Divide'd," Vaan answered.

"Squall!" Bartz scolded.

Squall shot Bartz a very annoyed look which caused Bartz to shrug it off.

_KLANG!_

"Oh come on!" Bartz shouted to someone outside of Squall's field of vision. "What the hell was that? Zell's got better hand-eye coordination!"

"SHUT UP!"

"_That voice...! It couldn't be!"_

Squall looked around the tank to see a very pissed off Seifer with a ball in his hand. Seifer's gray, sleeveless trench coat flapped in the breeze as his posse, Fuujin and Raijin, were rubbing his shoulders.

"GET HIM," Fuujin blurted out.

"He's nothing but a punk, ya'know? You can totally dunk him, ya'know?" assured Raijin.

"Bartz!" Seifer shouted. "You are going down!"

"Seeing's believing, Seifer," he said indicating his bone-dry clothes. "I'm waaaaaiting!"

_KLANG!_

He missed again. Firion and Lightning were running the booth as Bartz patiently waited to be dunked. It was obvious Bartz was baking in the sun and desperately _wanted_ to be dunked.

"M-Maybe you should just give up, Seifer," commented Firion. "There are lots of other games you can play he-"

"I'M GOING TO KEEP PLAYING UNTIL I DUNK THAT CHICKEN-WUSS!" Seifer screamed as he made Raijin hand another dollar to Firion. Lightning gave Seifer three more balls.

"Well, you have to say one thing about the idiot," Lightning said to Firion. "He's persistent."

Firion chuckled as he was suddenly reminded of someone. "Not unlike Snow?"

"God, don't remind me."

_KLANG!_

Missed again.

"Is this what you're looking for, Vaan?"

"Ohmygod, yes! Thanks, Baku!" Vaan shouted with elation causing Squall to turn around again.

Baku was a rather portly man. He wore goggles that covered his eyes. His nose looked almost like a pig's snout as his upper lip was covered in a thick, brown mustache. He wore a typical red ringleader's suit that looked faaaar too hot for this particular day. He didn't seem any worse for wear though.

"Squall!" Vaan called out. He pointed to the ball, then back in the general direction of the booth. Waving good-bye in hopes that Squall understood, he ran back towards his stall to help Terra out.

_ KLANG!_

"GOD DAMNIT!" It was obvious Seifer missed again.

"Bartz!" Baku's hearty voice called out to the boy in the tank.

"Baku!" he shouted back happy. "How have you been? It's been so long!"

"I've been well! I've been well!" he added with a hearty laugh. "I should be asking you that!" His face became somber as his voice lost the mirth is previously had. "My condolences, Bartz."

Bartz took a moment to think of the times that he enjoyed with Reks as tears began to build in his eyes.

_KLANG!_

"DAMNIT, SEIFER! WE WERE HAVING A MOMENT!" Bartz shouted at him.

"STOP IGNORING ME, DAMNIT!" he shouted back as he forced Raijin to give Firion another dollar.

Bartz smacked his forehead with his palm. "Oh, sorry. Where are my manners? Squall, that's Baku the Ringmaster. Baku, that's Squall Loire."

Squall shook the stout ringmaster's hand, his entire arm and body being shaken in the process. With a hearty laugh, he slapped Squall on the back, causing Squall to cough as the air was forced out of his lungs. "So, I take it you and Seifer are friends of Bartz?"

"Me? Yes. Seifer? No."

_KLANG!_

Still laughing, Baku added, "Straightforward! I like that in a person. Those three need someone to look out for them since they have no one else."

"I'm not their baby-sitter."

With another hearty laugh, Baku slapped Squall's back again, causing to cough several times as he struggled to catch his breath. "Well, Bartz!" Baku said with a wave. "It was nice seeing you!"

"Bye, Baku!" he said with a wave as well.

_KLANG!_

"FOR PETE'S SAKE, FALL ALREADY!" shouted Seifer in frustration.

"Squall!"

Squall turned to see Rinoa running toward him waving with one hand while the other held a cheap, moogle plushy.

Pouting, she said "Thanks for coming to get me."

"Sorry, got kinda tied up here."

"That's alright. Let's go get some cotton candy!" she said while she started to drag Squall off toward the snack area.

_KLANG!_

"AAARGH! Raijin, give them another dollar!" Seifer demanded.

"But, I'm all out! That was my last one, ya'know?" he said in a futile attempt to placate Seifer's growing rage.

"EMPTY," Fuujin added before Seifer could ask her.

Seifer turned his head to the sky and shouted, "GOD DAMNIT!"

"Hey, Seifer!" Bartz called out. "Come here. I've got a little proposition for ya," urging him to come around to the back of the tank.

"What?" Seifer asked with a threatening harshness.

"I'll keep quiet about this whole thing if you do me a favor."

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"What? No-no-no-no-no… This is a simple barter. If you take care of the stand Vaan and Terra are at for the rest of the day, I won't tell the whole school about how you can't hit the broad side of a barn."

"BLACKMAIL," Fuujin pointed out.

"Fine, fine! If you want to put it so harshly, it's blackmail." Bartz shrugged. "Either do that for me, or your shoddy hand-eye-coordination will be known throughout school. Good luck trying to seem threatening after word gets out."

"You're bluffing. Who would believe you anyway?" Seifer said confident that he wouldn't need to make the deal.

"Oh, I guess you didn't know Squall witnessed your horrible throwing arm…"

"What, Squall? You're lying!"

"TRUTH…" Fuujin agreed.

"I saw him too, ya'know. I saw him talking to Bartz, ya'know. You were too busy with the baseballs, ya'know."

Seifer looked like he wanted to eat his trench coat he was so pissed. "ARGH, FINE! I'll do it, but you'd better keep up your end of the deal!"

"Scout's honor!"

As Seifer began to walk off toward Vaan's stall muttering incomprehensible insults, swears, and threats under his breath, Bartz added, "Oh, and if I even suspect a _penny _is missing from the box, consider the deal off!" He turned his attention to Firion and Lightning as they greeted their first new customers of the morning. "So, Firion… You propose to Light yet?"

Next thing Bartz knew, the bench he was sitting on gave way as Lightning smashed the button with her fist as her face turned as pink as her hair.

Bartz stood up in the tank, spat out the water that made it into his mouth, extended his pointer finger in the air, and proudly proclaimed, "I REGRET NOTHING!"

(-)

Terra and Vaan waved good-bye to Tidus and Yuna as the latter walked away with a new cactuar plushie. Terra sighed as she took a gulp of water from her water bottle as Vaan scratched his head.

"Not the best way to spend a weekend, huh?" he finally spoke.

Terra shook her head and gently smiled at him. "No, it's fine. I don't mind helping you."

"Really?"

"Besides, I don't like large crowds anyway."

"One step at a time, then."

"Hey, chicken-wuss!"

Vaan and Terra turned their heads to see an obviously annoyed Seifer, a stoic Fuujin, and an embarrassed Raijin at their stall. Vaan raised an eyebrow in a, "Okay, what do you want," manner as Terra took a step back as Fuujin's cold stare frightened her.

"LEAVE," Fuujin commanded.

Vaan cocked his head confused as Terra cowered behind him.

"Bartz wants us to take over the stall, ya'know. We've got a deal, ya'know," Raijin explained.

"Idiot!" Seifer exclaimed while slapping Raijin in the back of the head. "Don't mention _that_!"

Vaan waved his hands in an attempt to regain their attention. "Wait, wait, Bartz told you to do that?"

"Yeah, so get lost," Seifer answered.

"V-Vaan, should we?" Terra asked nervously still cowering behind Vaan.

"Yeah, if Bartz said it was okay," Vaan said as he swung his legs over the stall, "then let's go enjoy ourselves!" he answered offering a hand to Terra to help her over.

Taking his hand, Terra climbed over the stall as well, jumping down with a light huff. "O-Okay, if you say so."

As the two began to walk away from the stall and Seifer and his posse climbed in it, Vaan turned to Terra to ask, "So, what do you want to do first?"

"Um…" Terra began to nervously play with her hair again, thinking of what she wanted to do first. "Can we go ride the chocobo?"

"Chocobo? Sure! I'll see if we can get Lilly. She's a pink chocobo. I'm sure she'll like you."

"O-Okay!"

(-)

"Hey, Gilgamesh!" Vaan called out pulling the large, pink chocobo named Lilly by her reigns. "I'm taking Lilly for a little run. We'll be back later!"

"Alright, Vaan!" Gilgamesh, a rather large man wearing old, denim overalls and brown boots, said waving them good-bye. "Wait, shouldn't you be running your stall?"

"Bartz got a 'friend' to cover for me!" he shouted back as he mounted the bird and helped Terra up.

"Alright, I'll let Baku know when he comes around!"

As the two of them steadied themselves on the bird as it adjusted to their weight, Terra instinctively grabbed onto Vaan's waist and clung tightly.

"Hold on tight! Despite Lilly's feminine color, she's quite the little rocket!" Vaan flicked the reigns giving Lilly the go-ahead. Instantly, Lilly started to take off through the field as the tall grass flew by as a blur. Terra squeaked as her grip on Vaan's waist tightened. Vaan couldn't help but chuckle.

After some time of running through the field, they came upon Vaan's destination, a lone, old tree on the edge of their property. Its shadow invited the two of them to rest under its old branches and escape the overbearing rays of the sun. Looking up, Terra noticed a wooden staircase on the side of the tree leading into its canopy and a rickety-old tree house that rested there. Vaan got off the chocobo, then helped Terra down from the bird. The chocobo decided to roost under the tree branches as Vaan led Terra up the old tree into the tree house.

The inside of the tree house was just as unassuming as the outside: there were a few holes that constituted as windows covered by tattered, worn clothes to act as shades. There were four bean-bag chairs in the four corners of the small tree house each a different color, red, blue, yellow, and green. Next to each of the stacks laid a small pile of old comic books and magazines. Vaan flopped in the red bean-bag chair in the north-east corner, as Terra admired the view from the nearby window on the east wall. Grass stretched as far as she could see. Moving over to the west wall, she could see small dots on the horizon, the tent, ranch home, and the chocobo stables. It was apparent that the tree house was some distance away from the ranch.

"So, what do you think?" Vaan spoke up, still reclining on the chair. "Not much of a view, huh?'

She gently shook her head. "No, it's nice."

"Zidane calls this place our 'man-cave,'" he said with a chuckle. "If he knew I took you here, he wouldn't let me hear the end of it."

"Then, we'd better not tell him," she said as she sat down on Vaan's bean-bag chair as well. Vaan sat up and skootched over enough so that they could comfortably share the seat. She took one of the comics in the pile next to the bean-bag chair and inspected it. It was an older comic of Batman.

"Batman?" she asked.

"Ha, Batman is my home-boy!" he began to explain. "The guy doesn't have any super-powers or extra-ordinary abilities, but yet, he still made himself a hero. Even Superman, the guy with every power under the sun, respects the guy."

"Kind of like your brother?"

"… Yeah, I guess so."

Terra opened the comic as the two began to read it together. Vaan began spiritedly reenacting the comic since he's read it so many times, much to Terra's amusement. Vaan was Batman, naturally, as he swung at the invisible henchman of the Joker, adding various sound-effects as the punches connected with their imaginary targets. When his reenactment finished, Terra began to clap as Vaan took a bow. During the bow, Vaan's stomach grumbled hungrily at the two of them causing Vaan to blush and Terra to giggle.

"Ha, sorry…" he said scratching the back of his head. "I think the corn-dogs are calling me."

"No, it's alright. I could use something to eat as well."

The two of them climbed back down the ladder (Terra was first, naturally) and made their way back to the chocobo. Suddenly, the field and the tree around them burst into a sea of crimson orange flames. Terra panicked as fire erupted from the ground all over, her heart raced and her breathing quickened, but yet, Vaan was completely unaware of the flames- Wait, where did he go? He was right here a moment ago! He and the chocobo were gone, and Terra was all alone in an ocean of fire.

Footsteps! They came from behind, as she wheeled around expecting to find Vaan there with a bucket of water for the fire, but the last thing she ever expected to see awaited her… A clown. She hated clowns… They always terrified her, with their pale-white skin and menacing, everlasting smiles… They were straight out of a nightmare. The clown had its blond hair tied back and topped with various-colored feathers. Its clothes looked like he loosely stitched together various pieces of fabric it could get its hand on. And, oh god, those hands… Just as white with overgrown, blood red nails… This clown was definitely the unholy god of clowns. Its hands were holding a golden ring with a red-jewel on the band. It sneered at her with that terrible, nightmare-inducing smile.

"Now, now, my little Terra," it cackled at her, "Let's go DESTROY some things! FWEE-HEE-HEE!" It raised the circlet over Terra's head as she tried her hardest to run away, but her legs refused to move.

"No…" she managed to blurt out in her terror. "STAY AWAY!" she screamed as she summoned a block of ice and launched it at the vision.

Vaan, who was approaching her to get her to calm down after her sudden panic attack, barely managed to dodge the ice block that suddenly flew by his face.

"Th-That was magic!" he managed to blurt out through his shock. "No! Not you! _Anyone_ but you!"

Terra's body went limp and collapsed. Vaan ran over to her to make sure she was alright, but as soon as he got close, he was pushed away by a burst of magical energy. Terra's form shimmered and changed from her normal self to a lavender beast-human hybrid. Her eyes burned with the magical energies that flowed through her body as they looked devoid of her soul. Her golden, yellow claws raised as a white energy began to form in them.

"Warrior of Cosmos…" she said without a hint of emotion. "Destroy," she said as she lobed two sets of three Holy spheres at Vaan.

Vaan braced himself crossing his arms in front of his face, then summoned his Crystal and transformed.

He grunted and called out to her. "Terra! Don't make me do this! Snap out of it!"

But his pleases fell on deaf ears as she summoned another chunk of ice and launched it at Vaan, catching him in the gut, then splitting into smaller pieces and attacking him again. He skidded to a halt as he pulled out his Crystal again and forced open a door to the world between, catching himself and Terra in the Crystal's light to do battle.

(-)

**Uh-oh, Terra's Awake! Terra Esper Dualcast Tornado battle go!**

**It's possible Seifer needs glasses, not that he would ever admit it. Maybe he can't put contacts in. I know I couldn't. And, well, that's one way to get dunked, Bartz.**

**But, aw, Bartz is such a good big bro, blackmailing Seifer so that Vaan and Terra can have some alone time. Where's Zidane during all of this? I was going to write him in at the end of the chapter, but it was getting a little long, so he's definitely going to appear at the beginning of the next one. Even though Zidane's supposed to be one of the four main characters, he hasn't gotten as much face-time as the others, has he? I dunno, I guess I just don't like writing for him.**

**Side note: Bartz needs to watch less TV. Seriously. He keeps quoting shit, that darn mime.  
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**Next time: Terra's Esper form runs amok! Will Vaan be able to snap her out of it? Will anyone come to his aid? Stay tuned!**


	11. The Sorceress and Her Knight

"_A true knight raises not his sword in his princess's defense, but his shield."_

(-)

"Come on!"

"No."

"Just one?"

"No."

"Not even a little peck?"

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NO!"

Squall and Rinoa finally happened upon Zidane's booth which was, of all things, a kissing booth. Of course, Zidane, in an open blue vest over a white, sleeveless tee, and blue, baggy shorts, was trying to get Rinoa to kiss him even with Squall in plain sight. Squall could swear he saw Zidane's tail twitch, despite it being quite well hidden under Zidane's clothes. Speaking of twitching, he could feel the veins on the side of his head pulsate uncomfortably as his anger began to rise.

"Bah," Zidane spat. "You're such a party-pooper, Squall. Tidus was cool with me kissing Yuna. It wasn't like it was tongue-to-tongue. It was just a little peck on the cheek."

Squall just rolled his eyes in response.

Zidane moved from asking nicely to begging him. "Oh come on! I was even forced to kiss _Kuja_! That's like kissing my own brother!" His face twisted in sheer disgust because, in some ways, it _was_.

"Oh jeese, that bad, huh?" Rinoa asked, obviously concerned.

"The guy wears more make-up than most women his age," he said, cringing. "Besides, part of every kiss goes to charity!"

"Who's charity?" Squall asked sarcastically. "Yours?"

Zidane forced a whistle to make himself seem more innocent, though it did the exact opposite to Squall and Rinoa. Rinoa giggled none-the-less.

"_Warriors!"_ Cosmos's voice called as it rang through Squall and Zidane's heads. _"There is an emergency! Terra has Awakened!"_

"What?" Squall blurted out loud. Rinoa gave him a confused look.

"Uuuuuh, you know what? Fine!" Zidane said rather loud and obnoxiously, obviously trying to grab attention. "Go be over-protective, lover-boy, just don't do it around my stall!" He began to shoo them away. "Besides, I'm on my break now. It's not like I wanted a kiss from Rinoa anyway!" Well, that was a very, very obvious lie, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Squall, catching on, grabbed Rinoa by the arm. "Come one, Rinoa. Let's get out of here. I need to use the john anyway."

"Oh, alright. I think I saw the stalls back that way," she said pointing toward the house as now she was the one being dragged along.

As they walked away, Zidane reached under the stall to pull out a piece of folded-over paper that read, "_Be back in 5 minutes_" with a crudely drawn picture of a toilet on it. He lifted the side tarp of his particular stall and looked around cautiously, making sure no one was watching him. Once he determined the coast was sufficiently clear, he made a mad beeline for his house to safely travel to the Sanctuary and answer Cosmos's call.

(-)

Vaan raised his shielded arm overhead to block the incoming rain of flaming-red, magical meteors. The molten rocks battered against his leather shield as Vaan braced for the impact of the second wave. His knees began to buckle under the intense force of the falling stones as Terra showed no signs of slowing or fatigue. Vaan, on the other hand, was already panting heavily. Terra's vast array of magical spells kept Vaan on his toes as he couldn't find any opening for a counter attack… not that he really _could_ strike back at her, out-of-control Esper or not.

"STARS!" commanded a voice. The two of them turned their heads to see Cloud, of all people, twirling his massive sword around his head as several, mini meteors rose forth from it. "STRIKE DOWN!" He planted his sword into what would be the ground if he was standing on it as the meteors shot toward Terra at full speed. Terra summoned four cyclones, three twirling around her body while her body was encased in the fourth, blocking the incoming star storm with relative ease. The cyclone forces began to pull Vaan and Cloud in. Vaan braced himself by planting his spear into the ground of the strange castle floating in the sky that Vaan found himself in after transporting them both here, the place known only as the Rift. Cloud, not having as secure a foothold, was sucked into the tornadoes as his body was raked by the winds and the debris they collected. After an agonizing eight seconds, the winds spat him upwards, and his body limply fell toward the top of the middle castle. He crashed into the ground like a rag doll a careless toddler threw over the side of a banister. He screamed in pain as he was sure the arm he landed on was now broken making it impossible to wield his oversized sword properly.

"CLOUD!" Vaan called out to him. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT? ANSWER ME!"

"If by alright, you mean alive?" Cloud started, though struggling for both breath and the ability to stand. "Then, yes, I'm 'alright'." His broken left arm hung limply at his side, while his right one used the Buster Sword as a make-shift walking-stick to keep him propped up. Terra simply hovered there, processing all the information like a computer, analyzing what would be the most effective strategy in killing the both of them as her invisible masters' wish. Having determined the best course of action, she began to charge up energy in her hands. The heat began to build, growing… growing until it was at a full charge.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!"

Zidane came rocketing in cloaked in a pink energy as his daggers raked Terra's side, breaking her concentration and dissipating the energies she had built up to fire. Squall arrived shortly afterward, splashing a bit of Potion on Cloud's broken arm, instantly mending the break with its magical liquids to a usable state. After a few test flexes from Cloud and determining that it was alright enough to use, he regripped his Buster Sword to rejoin the fight.

The four of them regrouped to formulate a plan.

"What are you doing here, Cloud?" Vaan asked, though not meaning to sound unappreciative. "I thought you didn't want to fight."

"Terra was in trouble. I wanted to help. Though... I don't know how much help I'll be."

Zidane tried to lighten the mood with his chipper attitude. "Hey, the more the merrier, right? Oh, Vaan!" he said as he suddenly remembered something. He reached into one of the many pouches that lined his pants, pulling out a tear-drop shaped stone, black on top and red on the bottom, almost like fire burning in the night, and gave it to Vaan. "This is Terra's. I think you'll know what to do with it."

Vaan took Terra's Crystal, causing the memories of her other life to flow into his mind. All of the terrible things that Terra did in the name of the Empire, the things she had no say in doing, played in sequential order like a big-budget horror flick. Only, these deaths, these cries of pain and terror, they were _real_. _Real_ people died those deaths at the hands of Terra, no, at the hands of the Empire using Terra as nothing more than a weapon. He could see it in the eyes of the people right before they were slain: It was not fear in their eyes, but unbridled _hate._ Hate they had for her; hate he knew she had for herself as well. She saw herself as a monster; he could see it in her memories.

"_No,"_ he thought. _"That's not true, Terra. You're no monster. I'll _make_ you see that."_

Shaking his head to push back the memories that still invaded his consciousness from Terra's Crystal, he was filled with renewed vigor as the plan was obvious: Squall, Zidane, and Cloud would run interference while he would give Terra her Crystal to Awaken her from the nightmare she was trapped in. She rushed them with three crystals of ice that surrounded her body. Cloud charged with his Buster Sword out in front, catching her then launching her upwards only to slam her back into the ground. Zidane continued the attack by charging at high speeds at her cloaked in a weak energy, and then continued by slicing at her with his daggers. Squall added a revolving kick to the equation that slammed her into the ground again as Zidane launched lasers at her from his daggers. She howled in pain as her body was sent flying, but she wasn't anywhere near finished yet.

She retaliated by gathering magical energies in her arms, and then sliced the air with her claws, sending out waves of magical blades at the four. Those magical blades raked the bodies of the four of them, sending them hurtling onto the lower level of the castle bloodied and bruised. The four struggled to return to their feet as Terra hovered over them, beginning to charge energy in her hands for a powerful fireball to incinerate them.

After five agonizing seconds of her gathering the sufficient amount of energy and the four's failed attempt to flee, she fired the shot. A humongous fireball made a beeline for them, intent on blowing them all to kingdom-come. There was no time to think: Vaan had to act. He summoned a brown-colored crest on the ground, then, using all the strength he could muster, pounded it with his fist causing three rock-spikes to erupt from the ground, next to the battered bodies of his companions, protecting them from the fireball's explosion. Vaan himself, however, wasn't so lucky. The blast sent him flying backwards and over the edge of the castle.

"VAAN!" Squall, Zidane, and Cloud shouted in unison as they saw him take the full force of the blast.

The only thing preventing him from falling into the endlessly blue abyss below was his shaky grip on the edge of the ledge he now clung to for dear life. As his strength was quickly fading, he made one desperate, last plea.

"TERRA!" he shouted with her Crystal in hand. Squall had told him that when he held Cloud's Crystal, he could pierce the illusion that the Shard of Chaos cast on Cloud. He hoped that a similar thing would happen with Terra. Terra turned her head to look in the direction of the voice, her gray, hollow eyes still devoid of any emotion. She readied her second shot of her massive fireball for the precariously hanging body that the real Terra loved and cherished.

"Don't do this! Please!"

She hesitated. Somewhere in her mind, she knew that voice. It was distant and muffled, but, at the same time, familiar and warm. Her body glided over to the ledge that Vaan was hanging off of as he struggled to pull himself up. Terra looked over the side at him, though her eyes still gave him that same, cold, blank stare as before.

"_Who is that?"_ she thought, though her own thoughts felt alien and foggy. _"Do I know this person?"_

Summoning every single last ounce of strength in his body, he struggled to pull himself up the ledge, every cell in his body screaming in painful protest. Vaan was running on sheer adrenaline and stubbornness now, and he knew it. He had no strength left to fight, not that he really had the will in the first place. He first managed to grip the ledge with his other hand (which was rather difficult to do considering he still held Terra's Crystal in it), then began the long and agonizing process of pulling himself up to safety all the while praying Terra didn't shoot him down or incinerate him during the process. After what seemed like hours, he had only managed to pull himself half-way up; his arms were shaky and fatigued as they did their damnest to pull the rest of his body up. He swung his right leg up, armor scraping against the brick of the floating ledge, using it as added leverage to drag the rest of his body up. He managed to swing his other knee up onto the ledge and, despite the many protests of his body, got to his feet and began the slow, agonizing, staggered walk toward her.

Terra, in her state of hollow-soul servitude to a nameless master, now saw Vaan as a threat again. She began firing off a barrage of spells in self-defense, all of them finding their mark in way or another. Vaan, now teetering dangerously between consciousness and unconsciousness, didn't even notice the spells that so obviously raked his body. He had one thing on his mind, and that was Terra. He was going to snap her out of it, even if it killed him. He swore it.

"Terra…" he said voice barely above a whisper. "Please…"

He grabbed Terra in a tight embrace as her Crystal was pressed against her back. The Crystal entered her body, merging with the magical energies that surged naturally through her being. The memories of her other life streamed through her mind and soul as they searched for the source of the darkness that now consumed her. Finding the blackened shard, her natural magics forced it out of her body, her form returned to normal, or, rather, normal for the other Terra. She was wearing a red, flower-patterned dress, red-fabric gauntlets, white stockings with golden flowers that ran down her legs, red, heeled boots with golden toes, a light-pink cape, and a pink sash that wrapped around her waist decorated with a small dagger.

However, she didn't notice her new outfit. What she did notice when she came to was the unconscious Vaan that had draped himself over her, battered and bloodied as if he just had one hell of a fight. Several questions ran through her mind as she began to panic. Where was she? How did she get here? But, most importantly, what happened him? Who did this to him?

She placed his unconscious body on the ground as neatly and gently as she could. He was a bit heavy compared to her dainty frame, and the armor he wore didn't exactly help matters. She inspected him in a state of panic, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Oh god! What do I do? What do I do?" She soon noticed that his chest was still. It wasn't moving up and down like it should. She placed her hand above his mouth. Nothing. She started to hyperventilate. Vaan wasn't breathing.

"Vaan? VAAN!" she shouted at him while shaking him vigorously in a vain attempt to get him to wake up. "Vaan, this isn't funny! Wake up! WAKE UP!" She started to bawl as she lowered her head onto his chest and cried her eyes out.

"_No! Not him too! Please! We've suffered enough!"_

What could she do? She was powerless to save the person she grew to care so much about… And, that very same person felt the very same way back. Being together helped them both recover from their respective tragedies, so why do this to her now? It wasn't fair!

"_Are you truly powerless to help him?"_

Terra stopped crying for a moment, hiccuping as she fought back the tears. That voice… It sounded just like hers. But, how? She then felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to look, she saw herself, only she had green hair and was see-through, almost like a ghost. No, wait, not a ghost - a spirit, a guide. The other Terra's eyes held heartache, love, understanding, and untold wisdom.

"Follow after me," the other Terra urged. She held her hand over Vaan. "Arise."

She mimicked the movements the other-her made. "A-Arise!"

Nothing happened. Vaan remained just as still as before.

"No, Terra. You have to _want_ him to return. You cannot command the magic. Magic does what it wants. You must pray for his return. The magic will answer."

Understanding, Terra clasped her hands and prayed. _"Please. Please bring him back. Please!"_ Just as the other Terra said it would, she could feel the energy in her fingertips. With a nod from her ethereal other, Terra placed her hands on his chest; the magics itched anticipatingly in her fingers, waiting for the command to be released.

"ARISE!"

The magic burst from her fingers and wormed its way excitedly into Vaan's broken body. It danced around in his muscles, stomach, lungs, and heart, repairing the damage the same energies previously caused. The seconds seemed to stretch into agonizing hours after Terra cast the spell. Was she too late?

Vaan's eyes shot open as he took one huge gasp of air. He sat up as he coughed out whatever blood was left in his lungs. Terra, overcome with joy, hugged Vaan, perhaps a bit tighter than she meant to as Vaan recoiled in pain.

"S-Sorry!" she said letting go of him, then playing with a lock of her hair.

He waved the apology off as he gripped his side with one of his hands. "No, no, it's alright," he wheezed.

"Vaan…" Uh-oh… That tone of voice told Vaan that a question he really didn't want to answer was coming. "… What happened?"

Yup. He called it. "I'll tell you later." He struggled to return to his feet. Terra did her best to help him up and support his weight. "Right now, we need to make sure the others are alright."

"Others? What others?"

"_Worry not, Terra, Vaan,"_ Cosmos's voice said as it rang through their heads. _"They are here with me, recovering from their wounds."_

"Who was that?" Terra asked Vaan. "Her voice. It was so… familiar."

Grunting, Vaan answered, "Cosmos. That was Cosmos."

"Cosmos," Terra repeated, remembering a little more clearly now. "Oh! The Goddess of Harmony. I remember now."

The two of them made their way to the brown doors that led further into the castle. Vaan pulled out his Crystal and presented it to the doors. The doors reacted to the Crystal's light, transforming from a brown, wooden barricade to gleaming white double doors with various golden accents. Pushing open the door, the two were greeted by the sight of Cosmos's Sanctuary with Squall, Zidane, and Cloud treating each other's wounds with potions. Squall was still being conservative about his spells, Zidane can't actually cast magic, and Cloud apparently didn't have any Cure Materia equipped. The three of them look up when they noticed the double doors materialize, and Terra and Vaan staggered out of them. The doors closed and disappeared behind them; Terra squeaked in surprise. Zidane ran over to them to help make sure that they were alright. Terra and Zidane helped Vaan to lay down. His body was still in pretty bad shape.

"Ah, geeze, Vaan," Zidane commented. "You can't do anything half-way, can you?"

"What are you talking about, Zidane?" he joked. "I do _everything_ half-way, including dying." He chuckled, though even breathing hurt like a bitch.

"_Now_ will you use your damn spells, Squall?" Zidane asked with as much spite as he could muster. "The guy can barely move."

"Ask Terra to do it," he answered flatly. Zidane stuck his tongue out at him in a childish manner. Squall ignored it.

"Squall, please do it," Cosmos chided. "I must speak with Terra."

"Tch, fine," he huffed. He grumbled intelligible swears under-his-breath as he made his way toward the heavily injured Vaan. "Don't move."

Vaan shot Squall a very annoyed look. "Squall, the only place I can go right now is in my pants." Zidane exploded in a fit of laughter.

"… You sure you need this? You sound fine to me."

"Ha. Ha. Ha," he mocked. "Hilarious."

While Squall was tending to Vaan's injuries, Cosmos took Terra aside to talk.

"Terra, what do you remember?"

"A-About what happened?" Cosmos silently nodded. "Nothing, really. I think I remember hearing Vaan's voice, but nothing else." She began to play with a lock of her hair. "But…" She turned back to look at the others. Vaan could now get up and move around without too much difficulty, though the occasional winces that appeared on his face indicated he still felt _some_ pain. "… I did this, didn't I?"

Cosmos remained silent. Terra took her silence as a yes. She began to cry again.

"I-I knew it…" she fell to her knees and sobbed into her hands. "I'm a monster…"

When Vaan saw Terra fall to her knees, he started running over to her but collided into a magical barrier along the way. It disoriented him as he bounced off of it, rubbing his nose in pain.

"Okay, ow."

"STAY AWAY!" Terra commanded.

"Terra! What's wrong!"

She turned to look at him, her face red and eyes puffy from crying. "I'M A MONSTER, VAAN! A MONSTER!" She looked away from him once more, unable to meet the eyes of one so noble. "Monsters don't deserve love…"

Vaan had enough. His anger balled up his hand into a fist as he punched the barrier she erected around herself, shattering the invisible force-field in an instant. Perhaps, it was a more symbolic gesture than it was a physical one: No matter what she could or would do, she could never keep Vaan away. He was just too stubborn. He would break down a thousand walls for her, including the ones that she would erect around her heart.

He calmly walked toward her. His eyes showed no hate, nor malice, nor sadness. They only showed love and concern for her, just like they always did. He fell to his knees, right next to her, and held her in a tight embrace. She was at a loss for words. All she could do was cry into Vaan's shirt, his once white, pristine blouse was wet from tears and snot. He didn't mind, or at least he pretended not to.

"Terra," he softly spoke into her ear. It had the same calming effect as his eyes, full of his love for her. "Terra, no matter what your memories tell you, no matter what people tell you, no matter what _you_ tell you, you are _not_ a monster. You are very special to me. You're the treasure a sky pirate could spend his entire life searching for, and never find. And, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you never let a treasure this precious go. So, I'll continue to hold on to you because I know there isn't a better treasure out there."

"P-Promise?" she managed to squeak out between hiccups and tears.

"Promise."

"A Sorceress' Knight."

Squall's sudden words had everyone turning their attention to him. Once he had sufficiently grabbed everyone's attention, he continued. "It's a term from back on my original world. A Sorceress' Knight protects a Sorceress, obviously, but not just physically. They defend their Sorceress mentally and emotionally too. Back where I come from, Sorceresses are considered monsters as well and are feared by the average person because of their great power. They are often hunted like dogs and imprisoned for crimes people think they _might_ commit. A Sorceress' Knight is meant to protect them from persecution and themselves. Having the Sorceress power is a great and terrible burden, but also a wonderful gift. It stays with you for the rest of your life." He thought on a similar promise his other-self and the Rinoa he knew made. Personally, he found it kind of ironic that the person who was trained all of his life and destined to fight Sorceresses ended up being the protector of one. He wondered if, looking at those two, this was how it was like for Zell and the others, watching Squall be the knight in shining armor for Rinoa that women spend their entire lives searching for, Sorceress or no.

Vaan turned back to Terra, having understood what Squall was trying to say. He had to protect her. He had to be her shield not just from swords, but from words. "I guess that makes me your Knight, huh?"

She hugged him and rested her head on his wet shoulder from her tears, a gentle smile on her face. "Yeah. I guess it does."

(-)

**Aw, the VaanxTerra (what is this shipping pair called, anyway? I'm fairly certain that Firion and Lightning is RoseShipping, but that's the only one I think I know). I think VaanxPenelo is the only cannon relationship I **_**don't**_** support, mainly because the two of them were raised together after Vaan's parents died from a plague or something like that. So, essentially, they're brother and sister. Ew, incest. Pass.**

** Wow, shocking there was no Bartz in this chapter (considering he's by far my favorite character). Then again, this isn't his arc. That honor definitely belongs to Vaan and Terra, obviously.**

**I know Terra called "Arise," but the spell was probably a simple Raise spell. Still, what sounds more dramatic when the person you love is teetering on the edge of death, "Raise" or "Arise"? Yeah, thought so. And, Terra had a little chat with her true self? Why, yes! Terra is more magically inclined than the others, so her other-self is aware of this Terra, even stripped of magic.**

**Oh, Vaan, you might want to warn her about ****her uncles, just so she doesn't make the same mistake you almost made once.**

**Next chapter: Marital bliss! Zack and Aerith are going to finally tie the knot, and someone's going to crash the party, quite literally might I add.**


	12. Broken Peace

"_Marriage is 10% love and 90% commitment."_

(-)

Bartz fidgeted uncomfortably. He hated getting all dressed up and formal, even if it was for a good reason. It's not every day that your friend gets married, right? Still, it felt like the collar of his shirt and the black bow-tie he was wearing was chocking him. He knew he promised he'd be here since Reks couldn't, but man, this was really freaking boring! He wanted nothing more than to run outside and play in the grass or go for a little swim in a near-by stream. Hell, part of him even wished that a Warrior would Awaken. It's been a painfully quiet two weeks since Terra's Awakening, though those three Awakenings in such a short amount of time were unusual.

Regardless, Bartz wasn't the type who was good at standing still and doing nothing for extended periods of time. This was so boring; he swore he was going mad. A hand placed itself on his shoulder, causing Bartz to jump and look in its direction. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was just Firion.

"God, Firion!" he yelled as quietly as he could. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"You need to calm down, Bartz. Just think how Zack feels. It is _his_ wedding after all."

If there was one thing you could say that Bartz and Zack shared in common, it was their ADD. Zack was just as fidgety as Bartz and just as uncomfortable in his suit. Cloud was doing his best to try and calm him down, though Zack's nervousness was infectious. Soon, the audience was shifting uncomfortably in their benches waiting for the ceremony to begin. Part of Zack wished he was back on the front lines: At least he had a gun and targets to shoot at to relieve the tension.

"God, Cloud… I dunno if I can do this!"

"Zack, calm down. You've been to hell and back. This is _nothing_."

"That's easy for you to say! You're not the one getting married!"

"You love her, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Then, what's there to worry about?"

"Marriage isn't just about love! It's about being able to fulfill our vows! 'Till death do us part' and all that jazz!"

"Zack? Zack!" Cloud said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "You. Can. Do. This. If anyone can make sure Aerith will be happy for the rest of her life, it's you. Trust me on this." Whether Cloud meant to or not, Zack began to laugh. Cloud, of course, blushed. "What?"

"Nothing! Nothing. Just, when did you become the guy who cheers everyone up? You're the guy who's usually raining on everyone's parade."

"When you were reduced to nothing but a slobbering mess."

"Touché."

Finally, the doors swung open. Two, young girls skipped down the carpet way, scattering flower petals on the carpet. One of the girls had emerald green hair and a mint-green dress while the other one had brown hair and a light-pink dress. Cecil told Bartz they were his nieces, Rydia and Palom. The next one to come down, proud as a peacock in his little black suit, was Porom, Palom's twin sister, holding the pillow which held the wedding bands, two simple, white-gold rings.

Finally, after the stage was set, the star of the show made her entrance. Aerith, in a simple white, gown, veil covering her face and holding a bouquet of white roses, walked down the aisle on the arm of Cloud's father, Sephiroth. Cloud cringed at seeing such a sight. Sure, it was probably normal for this world, but his other memories told him that the man who was walking peacefully with her had previously stabbed her in the back, and quite literally at that.

Aerith never took her eyes on the man who waited impatiently at the alter for her. She could see him fidgeting despite his best efforts to remain calm. He looked like his pants were full of ants, and she couldn't help but silently giggle.

"I can't thank you enough, Sephiroth, for doing this for me," she said to the man on her arm.

"It's my pleasure, Miss Gainsborough, or should I say, Mrs. Fair."

"I need to say 'I do,' first," she joked.

"Yes, yes, of course."

When the two of them made it to the steps before the alter, Sephiroth let go of Aerith to continue her climb up the steps as he took his place along the line of men in suits on Zack's side of the Church. Sephiroth stood at the very far end of them, much to Cloud's relief. Still, if something were to go wrong and he were to Awaken right there, Cloud's Buster Sword would catch his Masamune before it would meet Aerith's back, he swore it.

The holy-man in charge of the ceremony, Pope Galenth Dysley, cleared his throat and opened his Bible to begin his speech.

"We are gathered here today to witness the union of two individuals, Zack Fair and Aerith Gainsborough, in holy matrimony…"

Ugh, more talking. Great. Bartz was feeling drowsy. He really hated long-winded speeches. He swore, if he ever got married, it was going to be in a courthouse – in and out. No muss, no fuss. Bah. Right now, staying awake and still was the biggest challenge he ever faced in his life. He was almost glad his father never remarried. This. Was. BORING.

"Pfft- Bartz looks like he's going to fall asleep on his feet!" Tidus whispered to his to the two people he was sitting next to.

"Tidus!" Vaan chided, though quietly, punching him in the shoulder.

"OW-What? It's true!"

"Sssh! Stop being rude," Zidane added.

"Sorry, gosh."

"Where's your Dad anyway, Tidus?" Vaan asked, looking around noticing that the school's coach, Jecht, was nowhere to be found.

He crossed his arms and slouched, obviously annoyed where this conversation was going. "I don't know, and I don't care. I'm here to support Cloud and Firion. My old man's got nothing to do with this, so just drop it, okay?'

The presiding pope continued his speech unaware of the murmurs of the audience. "… If anyone should object to this marriage, let them speak now or forever hold their peace-!"

_CRASH!_

The room exploded in nose as the sound of broken glass and crunching metal caused the patrons of the wedding to get up in hysteria. The room quickly filled with "What was that?" as the room's natural acoustics reflected the multitude of voices until they blended into incoherent babble. Soon, all the patrons were filing out of the room to see what happened, only to see a car in the middle of the lobby completely destroyed having gone through the front doors of the Church. But, that wasn't nearly the worst part.

"D-Dad?"

It was Tidus's father, Jecht, of all people who drove the car through the front doors. Unlike the car, the guy was completely fine, but his suit was a mess. Oh, and, he was completely _wasted_. The guy reeked of alcohol like it was his cologne. It was obvious he just got out of the bar.

"Soooorry, son," he stammered, speech slurred from his excessive booze. "I'm-uh, hic, a littuuuuuul late."

"YOU IDIOT! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE?" he screamed, indicating the completely destroyed family car that was now parked in the lobby of the Church that was supposed to be marrying a very happy couple.

"Bah!" he said, sending a burst of alcohol-breath at Tidus. He coughed and fanned his nose. He _really_ hated the smell of booze-breath, especially from his dad. "Theeeeey can fix THAT, hic." He staggered toward the main room in his drunken stupor. His balance was barely there as he nearly tripped over his own two feet with every step he took.

This man… This drunken, muscle-bound, idiot of a man dared had the nerve to call himself a father. Tidus couldn't take it anymore. That was it. He could feel his adrenaline pumping into his fist, telling him to hit Jecht with everything he had. The guy had it coming to him, anyway. He so badly wanted to beat the ever-living daylights out of this guy. But, he couldn't do it with everyone watching… Not with God's eyes on him. With a scream of frustrated agony, Tidus bolted out the door and down the Church steps, running as fast and far away as his legs could carry him. Firion and the three brothers were hot on his tail.

"Tidus! Wait!" they cried out. But, Tidus, being captain of the soccer team, swim team, and track team, was one of the fastest and most athletic guys around. He was already far out of sight before anyone made it to the end of the block.

"Damn, that guy can _move_!" commented Zidane. He wasn't a slouch when it came to speed, but even he wasn't anywhere near catching him.

They could hear the wailing sirens of police cars getting louder as they got closer. It was obvious they were heading their way to deal with the drunken man, the totaled car, and the new drive-thru Church. The main problem was Jecht was all Tidus had left to care for him. His mother passed away not too long ago, and that's when Jecht started his destructive drinking habits again. When the police arrest Jecht, Tidus would go straight to Child Services since he had no other relatives to care for him. Fortunately, Firion knew Tidus well enough to know where he was likely headed.

Firion ran back to get his car out in the parking lot. It was a hybrid, being the green-loving man he was, but that meant it was a little cramped when it came to room and a little low on horsepower. Still, it was big enough to hold the driver and four passengers, so that was all he really needed. Firion pulled up next to the brothers in his car and honked twice. The three brothers turned their attention to the car and saw Firion give them the signal to get in. Bartz took the passenger seat, while the other two piled in the back.

"Hang on," Firion warned. "I think I know where he's going."

"Lead the way then, Firion!" Vaan answered.

Firion drove like a madman down the streets (except for when the police were on top of them. He drove like a perfect citizen). Soon, his destination was on the horizon, Dissidia High.

"There?" Bartz questioned.

"If there's one thing I know about my neighbor, is that he kicks a soccer ball around when he's angry or frustrated. I'd say now qualifies, don't you?" Firion answered quite plainly.

As Firion predicted, Tidus was kicking a soccer ball at the school walls. He was the only person who would be stupid enough to be on school grounds at this time on a weekend. Tidus grunted as he imagined every kick of the ball was a kick at his father's head. He kicked it over and over again and still didn't feel satisfied. His last kick rebounded off the wall with such force that it ended up hitting him in the face.

He didn't care though. His legs ached from his run. His face stung from the ball. But, despite it all, he didn't _feel_ it. It didn't hurt as badly as seeing his floundering mess of a father. He really, really wanted to pound his actual face in. Maybe then that idiot would learn something.

"_I can give you that opportunity."_

"Huh? Wha?" Tidus looked around. Someone spoke to him, but there was no one there. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"_I'm afraid I can't,"_ the voice responded. _"However, I can fulfill your wish. You want to fight your father, do you not?"_

"And, you're saying you can do that for me? Tch, yeah, I'll believe that when I see it."

"_You want proof? Very well."_ The spot before Tidus's feet erupted in black fire causing Tidus to jump back in surprise and to avoid getting his toes burned off. When the fire died down, left in its place was a tiny, black shard of crystal. _"There is your proof."_

"Whoa, that was weird."

"_Take the crystal shard, and you'll have the power to fight him, one-on-one."_

Tidus took a moment to think about it. This shard, it screamed evil to his better judgment. His instincts told him DO NOT TOUCH. Where did this thing come from? This thing wasn't natural. This thing couldn't be good. But, something yet compelled him to take shard in hand. In doing so, the shard was instantly drawn into his being, merging with his flesh and bone.

He could feel it! The power! Oh, sweet, delicious power! It surged through every muscle, every bone, every _cell_! He didn't care about the obviously evil shard anymore. He was going to beat the tar out of anyone who crossed him, especially that idiot who dared had the nerve to call himself his father. He would pay. He would pay _with his life_.

(-)

Cosmos gasped. She could feel it. There was a sudden surge in Chaos energy in their world. A Warrior of Chaos has Awakened, no, wait! Two have Awakened! This was troublesome indeed. She opened up the channel to communicate with her Awakened Warriors with their Crystals acting as the conduits for her voice.

Six spheres of water formed, each holding a different image of her Awakened Warriors. Bartz, Vaan, and Zidane were still in Firion's car, having just pulled up to Dissidia High. Squall was at home watching TV with an extremely bored look on his face after determining nothing worthwhile to watch was on. Terra was fluffing her pet Moogle, Mog-Chan. Cloud was still at the Church, though it looked like he was looking for something.

"My Warriors!" she called out. The six of them stopped what they were doing. Whenever Cosmos called them, bad news usually followed. "I sense that two Warriors have Awakened! Please! You must come quickly!"

(-)

"What was that?" Firion swore he heard a voice just now, a woman's voice.

The three passengers panicked. Oh god, they forgot: having three Crystals in close proximity can make Her former Warriors hear Cosmos as well, if they were close enough. They were afraid what were to happen if Cosmos called if _everyone_ was near each other, but that wasn't the point. How were they going to explain that away?

Fortunately, Zidane's quick thinking saved the day. "Oh, sorry! I think that was my phone. I think I butt-dialed Garnet again. She likes watching stuff like that, you know?" He forced a laugh there at the end to try and ease the tension, though it probably did the opposite.

"… If you say so," Firion responded though not fully believing him. He wouldn't question it further if it wasn't something they wanted to talk about. He knew that they would tell him if and when they were ready. Firion always thought himself a patient man. Maybe that's why everyone was trying to pair him with Lightning; the two of them were good foils to each other.

At least there was one good thing about having so many Crystals in close proximity to each other, now, the three brothers could sense Awakened Chaos energies too. The school definitely reeked of it. Well, at least they could guess one of the Awakened Warriors of Chaos was Tidus. Firion moved to unbuckle his seatbelt when Bartz placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Firion, wait," Bartz asked. Firion looked up at Bartz confused. "Maybe you should wait here."

"… Is there something you're not telling me?"

Bartz didn't answer. He didn't need to. Only an idiot wouldn't be able to tell, and Firion was no idiot. Still, he did as he was asked and waited patiently. This was probably a job for the three of them anyway. He didn't know why he thought that, but he trusted his gut. It was rarely wrong.

The three followed the waves of Chaos towards the source. They got stronger the closer they got. When they reached the schoolyard, they felt the need to hold their noses because the stench of darkness permeated the school-grounds. It smelled of sulfur, brimstone, and magma in one neat and helpful reminder of the Land of Discord. Like its name implied, it was a country consumed in everlasting chaos. The skies were constantly filled with fire. Lava flowed like rivers, and living things were scarce. It really was hell on earth.

The three made a quick sweep of the area to make sure no one was around. When they determined the coast was clear, they pulled out their Crystals. When one looked through them, it acted like a lens that filtered out illusions, so that their normal eyes could see what their magic eyes could. Looking around, they soon noticed a purplish crack in reality where the power of Chaos burst through to their world. When the three of them were gathered, Bartz slammed his purple Crystal into the crack. The energies of Chaos and Cosmos reacted by opening the crack wider in a golden light, inviting the three of them to jump in. They knew it would lead them to wherever Tidus was in the world between.

The three of them leaped into the light, their forms shifting to their heroic selves. The tunnel connecting the two worlds looked like a swirling mass of blues and purples and glittering stars merging into reds and oranges and wisps of black energy. There was no light at the end of the tunnel, only a brown gate with a burning red crest at the end. They knew what that meant: A Warrior of Chaos was waiting inside.

(-)

** Silly Tidus: Whenever a disembodied voice offers you power, NEVER. EVER. ACCEPT.**

** Boy, when I said someone was going to crash the party, I really meant it, didn't I? But, Bartz? In a monkey-suit? Sephiroth giving Aerith away? WHAT MADNESS IS THIS?**

** I bet you all thought Sephiroth was going to Awaken, didn't you? No, not yet. Sorry, folks. But, it seems as though Sephiroth jinxed Aerith. Know what they say, "Never count your chocobo before they hatch."**


	13. Heart to Heart

"_Love poorly expressed often turns to hate."_

(-)

When they entered the gate, they entered the field from high above. The sky behind them swirled in a vortex of pink and purple energy, sucking up debris from the ground and consuming it into its everlasting maw. Below them were the gray and forlorn ruins of the Old Chaos Shrine, though it was more destroyed than usual. The statues were in shambles. The pillars were in pieces. Heck, the roof was just plain _gone_. Someone was having one hell of a fight here. Who could Tidus be fighting for such indiscriminate destruction?

"VAAN! BARTZ! ZIDANE!" a female's voice called to them. The three looked around to see Terra, Cloud, and Squall standing on the ledge overlooking the field below. Terra was waving them over. Wait, if they were there, who was Tidus fighting? The three of them adjusted their decent to land on the ledge that everyone else was on. After a quick wave hello, it was time for business again.

"Wait, if you're up here, who's Tidus fighting?" Vaan asked.

Squall pointed downwards and said, "See for yourself."

The three looked over the edge as they were told. They saw Tidus, wearing his black, tattered overalls, blue suede shoes, open, yellow shirt, and black arm armor, charging at full speed at, oh god, not him. It was Jecht, red headband, Zanarkand tattoo, spiked arm armor, black overalls with orange and scale half-sarong draped over his right leg. Jecht simply blocked the blow with his backhand, and then kicked Tidus in the gut twice before spinning one way using his clawed gauntlet to tear up Tidus's body, then spinning head-over-heels, using his sword to propel him forward and slice up Tidus's body, afterward slashing him five more times with his sword before a final sixth strike knocked him into the wall. Tidus spat out the blood in his mouth as he pushed himself off the wall. He wasn't going down like that.

"Is… Is that all you got?" he shouted, though his heavy panting showed that he had a lot of fight pounded out of him.

Jecht wiped away some of the blood and spit oozing out of his own mouth and put on cocky airs. "Hardly. Boy, I'm just getting _started_!" Despite the alcohol that was swimming though his blood, Jecht seemed completely sober. Maybe the other Jecht was better at holding his liquor, or it was an effect of the shard. A drunken Jecht wouldn't be able to fight like this.

Tidus tackled him into a wall, and then kicked him and shot magical bits at him, exploding when they hit. Jecht shook it off, then charged his armored arm with energy and grabbed Tidus's face. The energies burned his face as Jecht then chucked him into the wall. Tidus screamed in pain, but he wasn't about to back down. Tidus then sliced Jecht over and over again like he was swimming in mid-air. The two of them were prime and willing to kill each other.

Bartz had enough. He couldn't take watching this fight anymore. It was horrible, and, what was worse? No one was doing _anything_ about it. Cloud, Terra, and Squall were here for who knows how long before he was, and they did nothing but _watch_ these two try to kill each other.

"Aren't you going to do anything?" he shouted at them indicating the two of them that were aiming for each other's jugulars. "They're going to kill each other!"

"Do _you_ want to step in the middle of _that_?" Squall answered, irritated at Bartz's tone of voice. "If we try anything, they'd have killed us first, then pick up where they left off. What were we supposed to do?"

"You were _supposed_ to do _something_, not stand around like a bunch of turkeys on a rainy day!" Bartz grunted. It was rare for him to ever get angry. He was often considered by most people to be the most easy-going guy in existence. But, this… Seeing a father and son try and kill each other… Bartz would have no part of it.

Tidus and Jecht jumped at each other, their swords at the ready for one final, fateful blow. The old throne that served as the backdrop for their final confrontation was the only thing left in this place that showed no sign of damage. Time seemed to slow as the final slash began. Next thing anyone knew, Tidus was punched hard in the back, sending him plummeting hard into the brick below. Jecht soon saw the image of his son being replaced by a young man in blue wearing a silver circlet with a purple jewel, the look in his eyes filled with absolute fury. Jecht had no time to react to the punch that came swiftly at his cheek. His entire body twisted from the force of the blow as he was sent into the wall behind him. Then, the young man landed on Tidus's back before he had the opportunity to get up and pulled up his head by his hair. Tidus took the moment to get a good look at who it was that interrupted their fight. Imagine his surprise when he saw Bartz on the other end of the arm that gripped his head so tightly.

"Wh-What the hell, Bartz?" Tidus grunted as Bartz's foot pressed hard against his back. "Let me go! I need to settle this with my old man!"

Bartz grip on Tidus's hair tightened as tears began to stream down his face. He punched Tidus hard on the back of the head. Tidus's face connected with the brick, leaving quite the impression. Tidus wailed in pain as his nose was surely broken. Bartz was soon picking his head up again by his hair. Everyone above watching couldn't believe their eyes.

"WHAT THE HELL, BARTZ! THAT HURT!"

"Good. Maybe that will knock some sense into you." Erupting from the corner of Bartz's vision was Jecht, not at all pleased with the interruption in their fight. Bartz was completely undaunted. He summoned Squall's Gunblade and pulled the trigger, somersaulting into a revolving kick that connected hard with the back of Jecht's neck, sending him into the ground as well. Soon, Bartz had the both of them pinned with their faces down in the dirt.

Squall couldn't believe what he just saw, not only did he just pummel the two of them into submission _single-handedly_; he just used Squall's Revolver Kick. Bartz never used that move before.

He elbowed Zidane. "Did you know he could do that?" Zidane shook his head. He was just as shocked as Squall. If Bartz had that hidden up his figurative-sleeves, what other moves did he know but not use?

Jecht grumbled under the force of Bartz's restraint. When did that little twig get so strong? "Hey, do you mind? We were having a little argument here."

"Argument? _ARGUMENT?_" he yelled, his voice cracking from fighting off the building tears. "This was full-out war! You two were trying to kill each other!"

"Please, the little runt couldn't kill me even if he tried!"

"You _liar_! I killed you _three times-_!"

"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" Oh boy. Bartz was _pissed_. Even Vaan and Zidane, who lived with him, never saw their brother this angry. "You two are _father and son_. You love each other! You should be able to work anything out… Not, not like this."

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, Bartz, but my old man is nothing but a stupid, selfish, drunken old bastard! We all don't have perfect fathers like you!"

"Perfect? You think my father was perfect?" Bartz voice was cold and distant. "My father was barely around when I was a baby. I wanted nothing more than for him to stay home with me and my mom. Part of me hated him for always leaving us to do his job. His job also killed my mom and nearly killed me. But, you know what? If he didn't do that, I would have never gotten Zidane or Vaan or Reks as brothers.

Was my father perfect? Hell no. He abandoned us when Reks died, leaving me to raise my brothers all alone. Do you know how hard that is? I'm not even an adult myself, but I was forced to grow up. Not only do I have to protect them, but I have to protect the world from the forces of Chaos that ripped my family apart. Despite all this, I love my father with all of my heart. If he was still here, I'd run up to him and give him a big hug and beg him not to leave ever again. But, you know what? I can't."

Everyone was quiet, listening to Bartz spill his soul. Beneath the smiles and the jokes was a young man crying for a father that won't answer, looking for the comfort of a big brother that's no longer there. Cloud and Squall suddenly felt like they too were being pinned down by Bartz. The air grew thick as the two of them began to choke on the guilt surrounding their own fathers; men they hated and swore they wanted nothing to do with if they could at all avoid it. Was Bartz… envious of them?

"I know. Your mother, your wife… That's why you two are fighting. Jecht's drinking started again shortly after she died, and that only escalated your problems."

Jecht huffed. "Bah, what do you know?"

"SHUT UP, DAD!" Tidus screamed. "This all started when Mom died, and you know it! As _soon_ as we buried her, you hit the bar and drank yourself into oblivion! You nearly _killed_ yourself driving home! You nearly did it again today! DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT ME?" Now Tidus was crying, having finally said what needed to be said.

Normally, this was when Jecht would make fun of Tidus for crying and call him a crybaby to mask his true feelings since he was horrible at expressing them. But, with Tidus and Bartz being so god-damn honest and open about themselves, Jecht couldn't help but be the same. "… I do care about you. You're right; I haven't been the same since your mom died. I hit the sauce to drown my sadness away without thinking of the consequences. I already lost my wife, and now I nearly lost you, like you nearly lost me." He couldn't help but laugh having thought of something. "So, it turns out mimes are good for something after all."

Tidus laughed, having caught onto the joke. "Yeah, they can tie a family back together with their invisible ropes."

Satisfied, Bartz released them. The two of them got up and stretched. They were really sore from the beat down from each other, though the smack-down from Bartz definitely hurt the worst. Tidus's nose was bleeding profusely. He tilted his head back to try and stop the bleeding. The others jumped down from the ledge and started to treat their wounds. Bartz walked off toward the doors that lead in and out of the shrine and presented his Crystal to them. Right on cue, the doors transformed into the gleaming white doors with golden accents that led to Cosmos's Sanctuary.

The eight Warriors filed in before Cosmos's throne. She was pleasantly surprised to see that the two Warriors Awakened under Chaos had negated the powers of the dark shards on their own. All Cosmos had to do was remove them from their bodies, so that they could return to the world as they were. Cosmos summoned the two spheres of light in her hand that would draw forth the shards and seal their power. However, she was interrupted when Bartz grabbed her wrist.

"Cosmos,wait," he begged. "Is there any way you can draw out the Crystal but leave the memories of what happened here?"

"Why do you ask, Bartz?"

He looked back at them. Tidus and Jecht were sharing a rare father-son moment, moments he so desperately missed. "The two of them made an important reconciliation. We can't just send them back without remembering that."

Now she understood. Something important happened between them here that they would otherwise forget if she continued. She thought for a moment. There was only one thing that could be done.

"Tidus, may I speak to you?" Cosmos asked calling him over.

Tidus did as he was told and came over, though he seemed a bit perplexed as to what she would need to talk to him about. "Uh, yeah, Cosmos. What'chyu need?"

"Tidus, I am afraid there is a bit of a problem…" she began to explain.

"'Problem'?" he repeated. "What problem?"

"When Cosmos takes that shard out of you and your dad," Bartz continued, pointing to Tidus and Jecht, "You're going to forget everything that happened here, including our heart-to-heart."

"What? No!" Just when Tidus was finally getting somewhere with his dad, they had to spring this news on him. "Th-There's got to be some other way! Just leave the shard in me!"

Cosmos shook her head. "I am afraid that is not an option. You may have negated its power for now, but there is no telling what could happen if it is left unchecked. Besides, you are stuck as you are, unlike Bartz and the others who can transform at will." Tidus bowed his head in defeat. "However, there might be a way."

Tidus clung to this ray of hope desperately. "We'll do it! Whatever it is, we'll do it!"

"Sorry, Tidus, but this offer's only open to you," Bartz explained.

"What're you talking about?"

Cosmos continued. "Tidus, you will need to be Awakened as my Warrior."

"So, why just me?" He looked rapidly back and forth between them. "Why can't my old man be Awakened too?"

"I am afraid I do not have a Crystal for him."

"But- He was a Warrior of Cosmos once! He even received the same power as Vaan, and Vaan has a Crystal!" Tidus was practically crying now. "So, why can't-"

"His Crystal is currently in pieces… One of which currently rests inside of you."

Tidus felt defeated once again. "So, you're saying that I can remember, but he has to forget…"

"Not just that, Tidus," Bartz added. "If you say 'Yes,' you're going to have to do the same thing as everyone else. You're going to constantly put your life on the line and fight against Warriors of Chaos at a moment's notice. You're going to see the people around you in a new light, and not all of them good. Your relationships with people will change."

"Think about this carefully, Tidus. If you accept these terms, there is no turning back," Cosmos warned.

Tidus didn't have to think about it hard. Sure, constantly living with his life on the line would be something he could do without, but to return home to the way things were? To return to a life with his father constantly coming home drunk out of his mind and smelling like fresh sex? Constantly wondering if his father really loved him or not? No, even if Jecht forgot, Tidus wanted to remember his father admitting that he loved him. That was a memory he couldn't bear to part with. Besides, if he got Jecht to admit his feelings once, maybe he could do it again. It would probably be even easier if he was still drunk.

"Do it."

Cosmos nodded in understanding. She extended a hand and summoned Tidus's Crystal, a large, blue gem in a white setting. Tidus reached for the Crystal, though he recoiled for a moment in hesitation. He soon shook it off then reached for it again, taking it in hand.

Memories surged into his mind as the dark shard of Chaos was ejected from his body. Cosmos caught it in her harmonious orb to prevent its Chaos from spreading further. After the memories of his other life integrated fully into his mind, he felt a sense of renewal. The other Tidus faced similar problems with his Jecht. It wasn't just him.

Jecht made his way over to Cosmos, arms open wide. "Ah, Cosmos, it's been too long. How have you been?" He gave her a rather large hug. Shockingly, he didn't break a single bone in her body. "It's been far too long!"

Cosmos was clearly uncomfortable. "Jecht, please release me." He did as he was told, though rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Cosmos smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. "Jecht, I am afraid it is time to return to Sleep."

"Sleep? But I ain't tired!"

"No, Dad, that's not what she meant," Tidus corrected.

"You see that crystal fragment in her hand?" Bartz asked, pointing to the black shard in the sphere of light. "There's one of those in you, which is what Awakened your powers. When Cosmos removes that, you're going to forget everything involving your other life, including what happened here."

"What about him?" Jecht asked, pointing to Tidus.

"I…" he scratched the back of his head, trying to find the words he needed to find.

"I have already discussed this with your son," Cosmos explained for him. "He has agreed to Awaken as my Warrior. He will remember everything."

"So, just do the same thing with me! I'll be a great asset! Come on! No one can stand up to the Invincible Jecht!"

"As I have already explained to Tidus, I am afraid I cannot. You have no Crystal, or rather, no Crystal of harmony."

"What do you mean?"

"Dad, these dark shards _are_ your Crystal."

"What are you-" He suddenly remembered something the Emperor told him, and pounded his fists. "That bastard Emperor! If I ever see him, I'm going to-"

"Jecht! This is not your fight." Cosmos's voice was firm and commanding. Jecht knew he was defeated. "Not anymore."

Jecht sighed and threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine. Do what you gotta do." Cosmos nodded and summoned another sphere of light for the shard that slept within Jecht. Soon, Jecht could feel the powers that flowed through him being forcefully yanked out, his consciousness slipping away with the energy. Before he fully passed out, he turned one last time to his son and smiled. "Son, remember, I love you. Don't ever doubt that."

"I know, Dad. I know."

With that, the shard was fully wrenched from Jecht's soul and safely stored within the orb of light. Jecht lost consciousness and his form shifted to normal, his booze-ridden self in the tattered tux. Bartz and Tidus caught him before he could hurt himself falling over, though they immediately regretted the instinctive grab when the smell of heavy drinking and poor hygiene invaded their noses.

"Aw, man! Remind him to shower once in a while! Sheesh!" Bartz said fanning his nose.

Cosmos tried her best to remain unfazed by the burly man's unpleasing smell, but those who were paying attention could see the subtle signs of disgust on her face. When she sent him back to the Church, there was a definite sigh of relief from everyone in the room.

Bartz placed his hand on Tidus's shoulder. "Come on. We'd better go. Firion's worried about you."

Tidus started to panic. "OH GOD! How long have I been gone? I've got practice tomorrow! Dad's now probably a fugitive!"

"Tidus! Relax!" Bartz was waving his hands downward to tell Tidus to calm down. "Barely any time has passed in the real world. Firion's waiting patiently in his car for you back at the school."

"Wait, really?"

"Don't worry, we'll explain how this works to you." Bartz summoned the gleaming white double-doors with the golden accents that would lead back to the real world. Bartz opened up the doors to reveal the courtyard just as they left it. Vaan and Zidane ran after them after waving good-bye to everyone else who had summoned their own doors to return to where they were.

(-)

"So, basically, we're a bunch of super heroes?" Tidus summarized after Bartz's explanation as they walked toward Firion's car.

"Basically," Bartz agreed. "But remember-"

"The number one rule of being a super hero is: You can't tell anyone about your secret identity!" Vaan finished.

"Aw, man! Not even Yuna?"

"_Especially_ not Yuna."

"Bah, it's not fair! Terra knows about it! She's a part of it!"

"What's 'fair' about it? I didn't even give her a choice! No one did…" Vaan's voice trailed off. Vaan was still upset about forcing Terra to Awaken, but, despite it, she wanted to be of any help she could. Still, she was burdened with terrible memories and fantastic power. He swore he would protect her. He swore he would be her shield. She'd never have to cry if he had anything to say about it.

Firion was overjoyed when he saw Tidus walking toward his car with the three brothers in tow. The three brothers squeezed into the back, Zidane sat uncomfortably between Bartz and Vaan. Tidus took the front seat.

"Tidus!" Firion began. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah… I'm fine. I just needed to blow off some steam, that's all."

But, Firion could see a change in Tidus's eyes. He could see that Tidus, for once, felt at peace. He wondered what they talked about that Tidus could feel so calm in such a short amount of time. Firion just shrugged his shoulders and chalked it up to Bartz's profound effect on people. For one so young, he sure had experienced a lot of things in his life and took it all in stride.

"Well, anyway. Let's head back."

"'Back'?" Bartz repeated questioningly.

"What? Did you think a little something like car crash would stop Zack on his special day? Actually, I think that might have calmed him down!" Firion laughed, causing the others in the car to laugh as well.

(-)

As per usual, Firion was right as the rest of the wedding went off without a hitch. Zack was far more calm thanks to the accident. He was finally comfortable enough to say his vows without his teeth chattering or feeling the need to go to the bathroom.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," Pope Dysley announced while closing the Bible. "Zack, you may now kiss your bride."

Zack lifted the veil away from Aerith's gently smiling face. Her green eyes sparkled as her lips awaited the sealing kiss. Zack, ever the flirt, dipped her dramatically and gave her one passionate kiss that she wished would never end. Oh, it was wonderful! This kiss meant the start of so much, and she couldn't be happier. The crowd roared in applause and cheered their wedded bliss. Well, that, and it also meant it was time for food! Finally! The little accident that wasn't quite fully cleaned up in the lobby had severely delayed dinner. Everyone was getting really hungry, the little ones especially.

As soon as Aerith and Zack shared their ceremonial first slice of cake, Bartz, Zidane, Vaan, Tidus, and many others were soon shoveling food into their waiting maws like it was the first good meal they had in ages. People danced and drank (if they were legal) and were generally merry. Tifa had dragged Cloud off the wall and was leading him around the dance floor. Cloud was a horrible dancer which was why he tried his damnest to avoid it like the plague. Too bad Tifa had other plans. Lightning was too busy chatting with Kain to dance, not that she really wanted to anyway. Oh, she _could_ dance; she just didn't like to. Cecil was dancing with his wife, Rosa.

Firion, however, was making his way toward Tidus. He tapped him lightly on the shoulder. Tidus nearly choked on the food he was eating as he tried to force it down his esophagus.

"Tidus, may we talk?" Firion asked pointing to the doors to find a more private area.

After he finally got the food down, he wiped up his chin and rose from his seat. "Uh, yeah, Firion." Once they were in a sufficiently secluded area, Tidus asked, "What's up?"

"Tidus…" Firion really wanted to ask him what he and Bartz talked about that only took a few minutes to completely change him, but, something told him that Tidus would avoid the subject. So, Firion did as well. "Tidus, you know your father's been arrested."

"Yeah… I figured as much."

"What are you going to do?"

"Huh?"

"Child Services would like to have a word with you. Cloud told me that when we got back."

"Oh." Great, that meant Jecht was going to spend some time in jail, and the State wanted to take him away from the only people he knew. Even if he was almost legal, almost only counts in horse-shoes and hand-grenades. Tidus rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't sure what to do, but he couldn't avoid them forever.

"Tidus, how would you like to stay with me, I mean, just for a little while?"

Tidus couldn't believe what he was hearing. Firion was offering him a place to stay! Tidus was so happy, he could cry. He could stay in the town that he called home. He could stay near his dad. Unable to hold back his joy, he hugged Firion as tightly as he could.

"Um… Tidus?"

Tidus let Firion go and started to blush. "Uh… Sorry about that… It's just… today's been…"

"No, no, I understand. You've had a rough day."

"_Alright, everyone! Get ready for the throwing of the bouquet!"_

It sounded like the end of the party was soon upon them. Firion pointed back toward the party room and began to walk in its direction. He wasn't going to miss the final tradition of a wedding. Tidus was soon running ahead of him.

"Race ya!" he taunted with a giggle.

"Tidus! No running!"

The two made it back just in time as Aerith was reading her throw. Many of the bride's maids were preparing themselves to catch the bouquet, Tifa especially, which made Cloud a little nervous. Tidus rejoined the three brothers at the dinner table as Firion decided to converse with Lightning, Cecil, Rosa, and Kain. There was the throw! It sailed far further than the bride's maids expected as it went over all of their heads. It flew toward the corner that Lightning was in. She saw something flying at her from the corner of her eye and instinctively grabbed it. Imagine her surprise when she realized she caught the bouquet. Lightning's face suddenly turned beat-red when everyone started clapping for her.

"Maybe _now_ Firion will propose to Lightning," Bartz said to his companions, causing them all to chuckle.

(-)

**And, Tidus makes seven. From here on out, don't expect any other Cosmos Warriors to Awaken. I was taught that if you have more than seven characters the story focuses on, the story becomes a bit messy, so, yeah.**

**Bartz used Squall's Revolver Kick? Yes, yes he did. Will he use it again? Probably not. It's not his style, but he does know that move and several others, and not just of Squall's. Let's just say this is a very important plot point.**

**Speaking of Bartz, never, ever piss him off. Ever. He ****will**** kick your ass. Just ask Exdeath.**

**Next time: Gold Saucer Races sing this song! Doo-dah! Doo-dah! Chocobo track 20 miles long! Oh-the-doo-dah-day! Gonna ride all night! Gonna ride all day! Watch out for the manikins along the way! Stop that Chaos Warrior today!**


	14. The Gold Saucer Cup

**Quick note: There may be future Chaos Warriors that aren't actually playable in the game.**

(-)

"_There is a reason there exists billions of humans: What one can't do alone, someone else is willing to lend a hand."_

(-)

"Wait, you want to what?" Bartz asked.

"Jockey," Tidus answered like he already said this before. "Is that a problem?"

"Tidus, what do you know about chocobo racing?"

"Before I Awoke, not much," he admitted scratching the back of his head. "But, afterwards, I found out the other me can race a time of 00:00!"

"Tidus, two things. One: remember doing it is one thing. _Actually _doing it is something else entirely. Two: How is a time of 00:00 even _possible_?"

"Aw, come on, Bartz!" Tidus started to beg. "You've said it yourself: No one has wanted to jockey for you since the incident. I bet your chocobo are going stir-crazy! Running is in their _genes_, dude!"

Well, Tidus did make a good point. The chocobo have been a little riled up as of late. The little runs around the property just weren't satisfying them like they used to. They _needed_ to race. Bartz knew it, but, to trust someone who only _remembers_ being a good jockey? Could he risk it?

He was the first person willing to work for him ever since then. This was for the chocobo, not him. Although…

"Tidus, what does Cloud have to do with this?" Bartz asked, noting Cloud standing in the corner of the room. Tidus brought (or rather dragged) him along for some reason, though Bartz couldn't begin to fathom why.

"I figured he could be one too! I mean, he's got to be a natural with the chocobo! His hair even looks like one!"

"… Quite infallible logic you've got there, Tidus," Bartz deadpanned in response in a very good impersonation of Squall.

Now that the conversation has shifted to include Cloud, Cloud decided to respond. "Actually, I remember a thing or two about jockeying from my other memories. I managed to break out of prison because of it."

Bartz scratched his head. _"Again with the 'other-memories'? And, do I really want to ask what Cloud meant by that?"_ Still, he needed jockeys, and they were offering. What could it hurt? "Fine. You guys wanna do it? We'd better start training."

"Training?" Tidus asked. "What, now?"

"Well, duh! One of the biggest cups in the country's next weekend! We've got a lot of work to do!"

(-)

"I didn't think I'd ever see you here again, Bartz. Especially after that little… incident," said a blond-haired man feinting concern, evidenced by the light smirk his lips momentarily twitched into.

"It's great to see you too, Mateus," Bartz replied as sarcastically.

Mateus Palamecia, a man with long, golden-yellow hair with purple tips that was stylized into a crown-like do and wearing a fancy, royal-blue tux, sneered at him with those condescending purple eyes of his. Bartz always disliked that man, not just because of their rival chocobo ranches. Those eyes of his always looked down on him, like he was just some punk from the country. Bartz's ranch had proven time and time again they were just as great, if not better, than some of the older ranches in the country. There were also rumors that Mateus cheated and fixed races, though no one could ever pin any proof on him.

"I'm honestly shocked you managed to find someone to jockey for you and your cursed ranch." He turned to Cloud and Tidus. "I mean, your brother _was_ a traitor after all."

"My brother was no traitor, and he poisoned no soldiers!"

"And, you yet continue to live in denial."

Bartz grunted. He really disliked talking to this guy. How did his dad ever put up with him? "I'm sorry, Mateus, but we have a race to prepare for."

"The ranch owner is participating in the races? Boy, you really must be facing hard times," he ended the conversation with a chuckle and headed for his private booth to watch the race.

Tidus turned to Bartz and pounded his fists together. "Bartz, just say the word, and I'll punch that asshole's face in."

"No, no. We're here to race, not fight." Bartz scratched the back of his head. Deep down , he agreed with Tidus. Hell, he'd have been the one to throw the first punch to wipe that condescending smirk off his face. "As much as that guy deserves a good pounding, that's not how we're going to beat him." Bartz flashed a cocky and confident smile. "We're going to _humiliate_ him. We're going to trifecta."

Cloud and Tidus recoiled in shock. "T-Trifecta?" they blurted out.

"You honestly think all three of us are going to finish in the top three spots?" Tidus asked, still shocked.

"Hey, I've seen the way you handle your chocobo. I have complete confidence in you guys."

Bartz gave such a warm and honest smile that the other two felt that they really could do it. They didn't need a rousing confidence-boosting speech. That smile was enough.

(-)

Bartz shifted nervously on his saddle. Boko, his yellow chocobo, scratched the ground in anticipation. He was going to run. He was going to race. He wanted nothing more than to leave all the other chocobo in the dust. It's been far too long since his last good run. Sure, he got to run a bit for the pole position, but this was different. He was going to run with other chocobo! He could hardly wait!

Bartz turned to look behind him for his team mates. Cloud, numbered seven, won the honor to start at fifth place compared to Bartz's third. Tidus, however, overestimated his abilities and ended up starting in dead last out of twenty possible racers. He only barely managed to qualify for the race, much to his embarrassment.

Cloud stroked his blue chocobo which was, strangely, called Tangerine. In the short amount of time he had available to bond with the bird, he quickly figured out why she was called Tangerine. Her real name was Aqua Marine, but her love of oranges earned her the nickname of Tangerine. Blue chocobo aren't as fast as other chocobo, but they make up for it by having superior grip and endurance. They could round corners sprinting, giving them an edge in more twisty-turny tracks. Cloud found he worked with her best. Although he did suffer from a bit of motion sickness, her lower overall speed and superior grip on the track made it easier to handle. When Cloud noticed he could no longer see the five on Bartz's back, he waved to him in hopes of calming him down. It seemed to work as Bartz smiled and turned his eyes back toward the front of the track.

"ARGH! START THE RACE ALREADY!" Tidus shouted in frustration. The pink chocobo he was riding, Lilly, warked in agreement. Much like Tidus, Lilly was very impatient, probably due to her coloring. Pink chocobo were very good sprinters. When they traveled at their top speed, they were even faster than the normally fast red chocobo. However, because of this, they have very low endurance and tend to tire very easily. Tidus ended up pushing Lilly too hard and tired her too quickly, which was why he was starting so far back. After a good scolding from Bartz, Tidus learned from his mistakes. He wasn't going to do that again, no sir! Not especially if he wanted to help Bartz humiliate Mateus.

The three of them turned on their headsets. They were the only things that connected the teammates to each other and their "coach." "This is Twelve! Five, Seven, Ten, report in!"

"Vaan, we have names, you know," Cloud replied with a bit of coldness. While Vaan couldn't see his glare, he could surely hear it.

"Aw, come on, Cloud!" Bartz joked. "Let him have his fun."

Cloud rolled his eyes and responded, "Fine. Seven reporting in."

"Five here! Ready to go, right, Boko?" The chocobo kwehed in agreement.

"CAN WE START THIS RACE ALREADY?"

Cloud, Bartz, and Vaan all quickly yanked off their headsets and rubbed their sore ears from Tidus's screaming.

"DAMNIT, TIDUS! THOSE WERE MY EARS!" Vaan yelled back though his microphone, though the speakers were still off his head. Zidane couldn't help but laugh. "That's not funny, Zidane!"

"You kidding? It's hilarious!" he blurted out between laughs.

"Um… Tidus? Maaaaaybe you should turn down your microphone a bit…" Bartz added with a bit of a forced, nervous chuckle.

"Alright, alright…" Tidus turned down the microphone volume from nine to four.

"So, Bartz," Vaan started. "How's it feel to be racing again?"

"Honestly? It feels pretty good!" He gave Boko a quick scratch on the back of his head. "I really missed it."

Back when his dad owned the ranch, Bartz was one of the ranch's jockeys. He and Boko always did well in the races, but, ever since Reks died, Bartz was just too busy with other things to race, his brothers and the end of the world being the main ones. Well, Squall and Terra were back home to take care of any forces of Chaos that might Awaken back there if anything were to go wrong, so he didn't have anything to worry about. Maybe it was a good thing more people knew about it. Now, Bartz could start to have a life again, as long as his brothers were involved in it, of course.

"Welcome, everyone!" announced a voice over the loudspeakers. Bartz snapped out of his thoughts as he and everyone else in the stadium concentrated on the voice. "It is time once again for the annual Gold Saucer Cup! Many hopeful jockeys and chocobo have come here from across the globe in hopes of winning this coveted trophy, but, alas, only twenty racers shall have a chance at such an honor. I'm sure the racers are getting anxious, so let us begin the countdown to race!"

Just then, a little buzz rang out over the field. The red light on the race start lamp turned on. Bartz readied himself. He focused on the lamp and on the track ahead. The two chocobo ahead of him and the one just behind him all belonged to Mateus. The one in first was a black chocobo numbered three. Those particular chocobo specialized in jumping and "flight," though, since chocobo were flightless birds, it only meant they could remain airborne for longer periods of time. They were good at taking short-cuts and avoiding obstacles to make up for their otherwise low speed. It seemed the jockey was unusually skilled at them which was why he was starting in first. The second place chocobo was a red one numbered six. They were exceptionally fast without sprinting, though, if a red one and a pink one were in a sprinting match, the pink one would, eventually, win. Bartz knew he could be a problem as well. The chocobo in fourth, but only by a few seconds, was an orange one numbered eleven. Overall, those chocobo have the best stats, basically a yellow chocobo on steroids, but they are highly unruly and are difficult to race. Bartz knew underestimating that one would be foolish.

The red light shifted downwards to light up the yellow lamps. Boko readied himself to bolt off the starting line. He adjusted his stance and couched slightly. Everyone sprints off the starting line, and Boko was no exception. A drip of sweat started running down Bartz's face. His heart was racing. His grip tightened on the reigns. Oh, to be racing again! He was ecstatic!

Cloud took the few seconds between yellow and green to calm down and remind himself of his racing plan. Since Tangerine was great at turning, he could take those sprinting. He would sprint on straightaways and loose corners. On tight corners, he would use the chocobo's great turning ability to hug the wall and make the smallest turn he could. The smaller the turn meant the less distance traveled. What he lacked in speed, he would make up for in strategy.

Tidus's fingers itched. He was just waiting for the moment he could snap the reigns and bolt off the starting line. Though, he had to remind himself to remember to watch for Lilly's condition. His carelessness was what cost them in the pole position race. It was why he was starting so far back. After the good chewing out from Bartz, he decided he was only going to let loose on the flat straightaways. Whenever he had a straight portion of track, he was going to fly down it at full speed. He then began to wonder if Jecht was watching this from his cell in jail. If he won, he wondered how proud his dad would be. It would be quite the story to tell Yuna and Firion when he got back.

Those agonizing few seconds between yellow and green seemed to stretch into hours. Everyone's adrenaline was pumping. Chocobo and Jockey each waited for the holy, green signal of go. There were only three colors that they worshiped: the holy green to begin, and the treasured black and white to end. The green was shared by all. However, the black and white could only be claimed by one but was wanted by all. The black and white, everyone swore, would be theirs.

There was the green! A quick flick of the reigns and the signal to go were all the chocobo needed to start zipping down the track. The crowd cheered the start of the race, but the jockeys didn't notice it. They were focused on claiming the coveted first place to claim the white and black checkered flag. Tidus was soon using his superior sprinting abilities to move up in place. He soon sprinted from dead last to a slightly more respectable fifteenth. Cloud dropped from fifth to eight, and Bartz was trying to hold of the person in fifth, also a pink chocobo, after he lost third to the orange chocobo's superior breeding. The red chocobo pulled out in front, but he ended up taking the first corner a little wide, allowing the black and orange chocobo to pull in front of him, falling back toward third. Bartz pulled back on the reigns slightly, causing the chocobo to slow down just a tad, so that Bartz could take the corner at a respectable angle at the highest speed he could. He was used to racing, and he really knew Boko's abilities. He instinctively knew what Boko was capable of. He pulled ahead of the red chocobo as well, though Bartz knew it was only for a little while as he would try to overtake him again in the straightaway. The pink chocobo in fifth would probably do the same.

Cloud flew around the corner using his chocobo's great grip, overtaking the chocobo in seventh and sixth, catching up to where he was before the race started. Tidus had to slow greatly down before the corner just so he could make it and give Lilly some time to rest before he let her loose again in the next straightaway right afterward.

"Five, Seven! Remember, the first track obstacle is coming up!" Vaan reminded them.

Placed at various intervals on the track were hazards that were placed there to make the races more exciting. Only the most skilled of riders could navigate them safely, let alone use them to their advantage.

The ground gave way to a cliff over a large pool. There were eight rather large pillars spaced decently enough that you couldn't walk between them, and, if you missed, you'd have to swim in the pool and take a lower portion of the track which, although generally shorter, was littered with very sharp turns that were nearly impossible to take at full speed. The black chocobo numbered three jumped and flapped. Its natural flight skills allowed the chocobo to avoid landing on many of the pillars, shaving off a good deal of time. The red chocobo had to take it very carefully since his flight wasn't as nearly adept as the black's. But, he wanted to remain on the upper portion of track since it was overall straighter and would save him time in the long run. Bartz decided to shoot for the upper track as well. He soon caught up to the cautious red chocobo and passed him, spryfully skipping along the pillars. Cloud, however, decided to screw the pillars and shoot straight for the water. Not only was his chocobo a good turner, which the lower portion of the track was littered with, Tangerine was a great swimmer. For them, the lower track was definitely faster. Cloud soon pulled ahead of the red chocobo and Bartz in the pool below, leaving him sitting in second as Tangerine squawked happily in the water. The black chocobo crossed to the other side and took off running down the track again. Bartz wasn't that far behind though.

The red chocobo fell back a few places from his cautious racing, but he made it safely to the other side. Tidus finally made it to the pillar area. Tidus had an idea. Unlike the others whom he was racing against, he _wasn't_ going to slow down. He was taking this at full speed. He flicked the reigns, giving Lilly the signal to sprint, and sprint she did! They zoomed forward as the other chocobo were nothing but rainbow-colored swirls behind him. He saw his target, the second pillar!

"WHAT IS HE DOING?" Vaan shouted in confusion, watching him from his binoculars. "IS HE NUTS?"

"He's Tidus, so I'd say that's a 'yes,'" Zidane answered Vaan's rhetorical question.

"Trust him, guys!" Bartz responded on the intercom. "I'm sure he's got a plan."

"That makes one of us…" Cloud retorted.

Tidus and Lilly jumped! They soared through the air using the momentum from Lilly's sprint to give them the needed inertia to propel them to the second pillar. She landed on it safely with two feet, but Tidus wasn't done yet! They leaped again! She kept the rhythm and jumped to the fourth, then sixth, then eighth pillars! With one final leap, he came to a skidding landing on the higher portion of the track. He had crossed the pillars in spectacular fashion, jumping up all the way to fifth (and knocking off some of the competition along the way to the track below)! The crowd cheered for such an impressive display of jockeying from the "rookie for the cursed ranch," as he took off running again down the straightaway. The sprint leading up to that had tired Lilly out, but their current place was totally worth it.

Bartz was catching up to the black chocobo in first leading the pack of those who took the high road, while Cloud had a sizeable lead on the next person behind him on the lower track, being the sole orange chocobo of the race. The orange chocobo resisted his trainer and ended up taking a little swim like a few of the others. This was good for Cloud though. He didn't have to worry about anyone breaking his concentration while he took these rather sharp turns.

The red chocobo started to catch up to Bartz and the black chocobo, quickly recovering the time he lost on the pillars. When Lilly's stamina recovered enough, Tidus was soon sprinting down the track as well. He started to catch up to that darn red chocobo while Bartz kept focused on the black one. The two separate tracks soon merged back into one as Cloud rejoined the pack from the right fork not too far behind Bartz and the black chocobo as he saw Tidus's pink and the red chocobo close the distance behind him. The orange chocobo soon came out of the right fork as well and started to make his move on Cloud, Bartz, and the black chocobo.

"So glad you could join us, Tidus," Bartz joked over the intercom.

"Hardy-har-har."

Soon, the six racers came upon the second obstacle of the race, the tile pits. At periodic intervals, a section of floor would give way to a longer, poorly-lit section of track. The panels were normally green until it was time to drop. Before they opened, they would flash three times yellow before opening and turning red. It was a great way to test a chocobo's agility as racers would aim for the upper portion of track.

Tidus and the red chocobo racer adopted similar strategies: Run like mad! The two of them were soon bolting down the green-yellow-holed track in hopes that they'd speed through it fast enough they wouldn't have to worry about a bad tile. The orange chocobo was off being unruly again as it zigzagged haphazardly around the area. The black chocobo was using its great hang-time to "fly" over the tiles and not have to worry about hitting any of them. Bartz and Cloud were playing it a bit more cautiously, though, as they, though running, tip-toed through the "mine-field."

The orange chocobo had quickly fallen though one of the bad tiles and continued on the lower portion of the track. That was okay though. Bartz figured the orange chocobo, though one he would have to watch out for, was more of a decoy than anything. He didn't underestimate it, but he wasn't going out of his way to stay ahead of it. That was just what Mateus wanted. He wanted racers to burn out trying to stay ahead of the orange chocobo while his real racers on his black and red ones, claimed victory.

Just when Cloud and Bartz thought they were in the clear, the tiles beneath their chocobos' feet gave way, turning from green to red without warning. The two of them plummeted into the darker track below as they watched the light shining in from the tiles above disappear with their closing.

"What just happened?" Bartz asked, though, from what Bartz could tell, the same question was on Cloud's mind as they continued on the poorly lit-path. The only real light available was the momentary opening and closing of the tiles from the obstacle.

"Cheating, that's what!" Vaan responded over the intercom. "Those tiles didn't flash yellow before they dropped you!"

"Thought so," Cloud said with a knowing voice. "I was sure that tile just opened which was why I stepped on it."

"Same here," Bartz agreed.

"That bastard!" Zidane spat. "Mateus will just get it written off as an electrical glitch after sending 'a generous gift' to Dio." He got up to leave the room in a huff.

"Zidane!" Vaan called after him. "Where are you going?"

"To give that bastard a piece of my mind."

The only thing that kept Tidus from falling like the other two was how closely he stuck to the red and black chocobo. Bartz and Cloud had to take it slow since they could barely see a foot in front of their face.

Tidus soon noticed that his team mates weren't behind him anymore. "Guys! You alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine!" Bartz reassured him.

"Kick their asses," added Cloud.

"Oh, with pleasure!"

(-)

Zidane pounded hard on the door that led to Mateus's private box. It wasn't that hard to figure out which was his: It was the only one that screamed, "I'm rich and of noble blood, therefore, I'm better than you." Unsurprisingly, the one to open the door was not Mateus. It was one of his various "associates," though that was just snobby rich-kid for goon. The black suited man wearing sunglasses towered over the tiny Zidane, but, Zidane could shoot laser beams from his daggers. This guy was nowhere near intimidating.

He puffed out his chest to make himself seem bigger. "I demand to speak with Master Mateus!"

Though the "associate" remained stoic, Zidane could tell he was mentally laughing at him.

"_One good punch in the balls oughta shut him up!"_ he thought. He was at the right height.

Mateus casually looked back to notice the diminutive, blond guest. He waved his hand inviting Zidane to enter, and the "associate" stepped aside to let him in. Zidane stomped his way over to Mateus, moving only to avoid the many guests Mateus had invited to party their Gold Saucer victory before they actually won it. Mateus dismissed the ladies that were practically draped over him and invited Zidane to sit down next to him. Zidane did it but he grunted, clearly unhappy with his "oh-so-gracious" host.

"Ah, Zidane, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked, though, by the tone of his voice, he was sure he already knew the reason.

"Cut the crap, Mateus," he spat. "You know why I'm here."

"What _ever_ do you mean?" he asked with the same tone of sarcasm as before, taking a sip of his martini.

"You're cheating! You're cheating just like you always do! Damnit, leave my brother alone!"

"And, what proof do you have of these alleged claims?"

Zidane spat. He didn't have any proof, not that it would matter though. Mateus would make it disappear, and then would probably make Zidane disappear. Still, Mateus brushed off the accusation like it was a little joke between friends. Well, in Mateus's eyes, it was little more than a joke. All he had to do was spread a little money around, and everyone would eat out of his hands. He would tell them to jump, and they would ask, "How high?" People are all fools: They'd sell their soul if they could make a fortune on it, that's what Mateus believed anyway. He was only proven wrong once, and that was with Bartz. No matter how much money he offered to get him to sign as a jockey for his ranch, he would politely decline. No matter how much money he offered to pay for his chocobo, Bartz would continue to refuse. Bah, that kid was a fool, Mateus would make him see it.

"_What right does a mere peasant have to refuse the demands of an Emperor?"_

"_No right, that's what,"_ Mateus mentally responded to the voice that spoke to him, like a distant memory.

"_Precisely."_ Mateus could then feel a strange sensation fill his being. This-! This feeling! He felt like he waited his entire life for it! This was the feeling of true, royal blood! _Everyone_ would obey him… OR ELSE!

Zidane's tail twitched under his shirt. It only twitched like that when something bad was coming… Chaos Warrior bad.

"Uh… You know, I think I just remembered I needed to do something… Um… Not here…" Zidane got up to excuse himself before he was stopped by a crest of purple light drawn in front of him, threatening to shoot its purple bolts at him.

"Come now, _Zidane_," Mateus spat as he rose from his seat. When he did, his form shifted, transforming to a man wearing a purple suit under golden yellow armor adorned with various demon heads and a purple cape. "Stay… AND ENJOY THE PARTY!"

The other people in the room reacted to the Chaos energy being emitted by the Emperor and also transformed. Each and every one of them transformed into a soulless Manikin, the true form of anyone not from the other worlds. Zidane attempted to pull out his Crystal to transform and transport Mateus to the world between to do battle, but Mateus would have no parts of that. With a quick flick of Mateus's wrist, he drew a crest on the ground that trapped Zidane and emitted a powerful wave of electricity through his body. He screamed in pain as the thousands of volts ran through his being. When the crest disappeared, he dropped to his knees, and the Manikins that were once honored party guests pinned him down. Mateus snatched Zidane's Crystal. He wasn't going to go anywhere or call for any help; Mateus would be sure of that.

Mateus returned to his comfortable sofa and took another sip of his martini. "Relax. Stay a while… There's a race to watch."

(-)

**Oh, shit! Mateus, the Emperor, is Awake! This can only spell trouble for our heroes!**

**Okay, originally, it wasn't **_**supposed**_** to be Mateus. I had originally planned for Seymore to be the Warrior to Awaken this chapter, but, the way I was writing him just **_**screamed**_** Mateus. So, badda-bing, badda-boom!**

**And, by the way, writing out a race is **_**not**_** easy. Battles are easier since we've played the game and know how it works, but, the race is a product of my own imagining. I have to be a little more detailed in it so everyone knows what's going on. In my head, I kinda picture it somewhat like the Chao Racing of Sonic Adventure 2, Bomberman Fantasy Race, and I guess Ninja Warrior in the obstacles. (By the way, I've always wanted a real monster breeding/racing game. Something like Monster Rancher, only we race the monsters we raise instead of making them fight. I think that's one of the reasons I loved the chao system in Sonic Adventure 2. I was so upset when they took that out of Sonic Heroes and all subsequent games. I wasted hours breeding my super Chao. Hell, I've even had some neat special ones, like an invisible chao, a chao made of glass, and a normal chao that was shiny!)**

**Next time: Mateus sets his trap! The pieces are falling in place for his ultimate checkmate. Can our heroes find the one move that will turn it all around?**


	15. Brotherly Bonds

**Quick note: I made a mild change in the last chapter. Mateus grabbed Zidane's Crystal, which is why he wasn't able to transport him to the world between.**

(-)

"_Love is not a power to be underestimated."_

(-)

The hairs on the back of Cloud's neck stood on end. He didn't like this whole "racing in the dark" thing. He wasn't claustrophobic, but it did make his soldier senses tingle. It felt like something was waiting to jump out at him, threatening to pump him full of lead. At first, he thought he was just being paranoid and tried to calm himself down. However, something kept bugging him. Something just wasn't _right_.

Bartz could sense something amiss too. "Cloud?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it just me, or is it a little _too_ quiet down here?"

That's what was bugging Cloud. It was much too quiet. He could only hear the echoes of himself and Bartz in this tunnel. That wasn't right. There should at least be one other set of echoing footsteps. The orange chocobo and jockey were down here too. There was no way they got out that fast, not unless they wanted to do a header into the wall, anyway.

Suddenly, the tunnel was illuminated by a white light. A white, hot light… Followed by white, hot _pain_.

(-)

Explosions, and then screams of unbearable agony. That was all Vaan and Tidus could hear over the intercom.

"Cloud? Bartz?" There was no time for jokes. Something bad happened, something far worse than simple cheating. They were out of his and the camera's sights. He didn't know what happened, but he just knew it was _bad_. "COME IN!"

Silence. The kind of defining silence that turned the air thick in Vaan's box. His mind began to race as all sorts of worst-case scenarios filled his mind, each one worse than the last… Each ending with him finding his brother dead. No… Not again… It couldn't happen again!

"… aan… VAAN!" Tidus's voice snapped Vaan out of his ultra-pessimistic thoughts. When Vaan was aware of what was going on again, he saw that a red flag was being waved. That flag meant that the race has been stopped. Apparently, a section of the track had caved in, and the race promoter determined it was unsafe to continue. They needed to make sure no one was trapped in the rubble.

Vaan's heart sunk. "BARTZ! BARTZ!" he screamed into the microphone. "BARTZ, ANSWER ME!"

"… V-Vaan?" a voice responded, though it was weak. It was Cloud, much to Vaan's relief, but he didn't celebrate quite yet.

"Cloud! Where are you? Are you okay? Is Bartz there?"

Cloud grunted, trying to move, but the fallen concrete and the severe burns made it impossible. "Vaan… I think I'm stuck… under something…"

"Cloud, there was an accident on the track! A cave-in. Oh my god, you guys were caught in it! Don't worry, they're sending help!"

"V-Vaan… I don't think, ugh, this was an accident…" His breathing was labored. Oxygen was sparse under all the rubble, and the fierce, radiating pain made it difficult to breathe. He was surprised that his intercom still worked after all of that. He couldn't see anything, but he could feel his chocobo under him. His breathing was faint as well. "Tangerine… you took the brunt of that explosion… didn't you?"

"Explosion?"

"All I remember was a bright, white light from under my feet, then pain…" Cloud's breathing started to slow. He was feeling drowsy. Two people and two chocobo were eating up what little oxygen they had down here. He couldn't stay awake much longer. "I think… I think it was magic…"

"Cloud! Hang on! Can you see Bartz? He's not answering!" There wasn't enough air in the box anymore. He couldn't fill his lungs as he started hyperventilating. He was beginning to panic. He _needed_ to know if he was okay. He couldn't think of anything else.

"V-Vaan… I can't… I don't know… ugh-"

"Cloud!"

Silence. The only sounds coming in were the murmurs of the other jockeys from Tidus's headset. Why wasn't Bartz answering? He wasn't… He couldn't be… No… Not him…

"BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARTZ!"

(-)

Zidane couldn't believe what he just saw. The Emperor had drawn a crest to watch the work of his Manikin in the tunnel; the Manikin that was formerly the orange chocobo jockey. It was an Imitation Despot, a copy of the Emperor himself, and it had set up a trap of Dreary Cells in the tunnel below for the two of them. The Emperor took another hearty sip of his martini, happy that another of the pesky flies has been swatted. Sure, he was aiming for Bartz but taking out Cloud was a very nice bonus.

Mateus began juggling Zidane's Crystal in a taunting fashion. He was confident that he had this won. He motioned to two of his Manikins, a Delusionary Knight and a Fleeting Flash, sending them off to deal with Vaan. The Despot in the tunnel would take care of Tidus who, in the Emperor's confident opinion, would try and help dig out his companions.

"_No…"_ Zidane couldn't move. He couldn't speak. _"My brother… My best friend… How…"_ Tears began to flow down his face. The rage began to bubble up inside of him. Zidane's Crystal began to react to his emotions. It grew bright, and it grew hot, so hot, that the Emperor couldn't hold it anymore. He threw it on the ground and hissed. The Manikins holding Zidane down were suddenly thrown back by a powerful force. Zidane's form changed, his hair and tail were now pink. Pink fur grew all over his body, and his eyes were a burning, blood red. There was rage in those eyes; the Emperor was caught off-guard by the monkey's sudden change.

"EMPEROR!" Zidane screamed, taking out his pink, runic daggers. "YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" He summoned a whirlwind created from strange symbols that drew all of the Manikins in. The wind raked their bodies and shot them into the walls and some, out the window. Zidane fetched his Crystal in the blink of an eye and forced open the door to the world between, taking them away to do battle.

(-)

The Emperor soon found himself in his very own throne room. The crystal statues were continuously broken from Zidane's fierce attacks. The Emperor could barely do anything to defend himself. The shots from his Light Crest were swatted away like they were little more than gnats. The mines didn't seem to faze him. He had no time to summon the meteor. Zidane was attacking the Emperor from every single conceivable angle. Above, below, same height, Zidane would find him and tear him to pieces, then fire his strange, alien magic through his body.

Zidane, however, was so blinded by his rage that he missed the Emperor's real plan. Zidane was attacked by a pillar of black flame from a Delusory Knight, then, when he hit the ceiling, a Capricious Reaper, a copy of Kuja, caused magical energy to rain down from above. The magical blasts battered his body before they exploded and knocked him through more of the Emperor's crystal statues. The Manikins moved to pin him down again, but Zidane would have no parts of that. He started zipping around at high speeds, running through the many Mainkins, after he slashed one, he would teleport near another and slash it, then teleport again. He kept slashing and teleporting, gaining speed with each slash until they were sufficiently corralled in a neat circle. He sliced them around in the circle three times as a powerful energy was left in its wake. When he was done, the energy exploded and destroyed all of the Manikins, though it ate up his surge of energy as well. Zidane returned to normal, his pink fur replaced by blond hair and his clothes. His burning red eyes returned to their calm blue. However, the rage persisted.

Since Zidane was too busy with the Maninkins, he didn't see what the Emperor was doing. The Emperor had spent that time charging one of his most powerful attacks. The crests at his feet were nearly complete. Zidane realized too late what he was up to. Zidane tried to counter by using his Shift Break attack, which summons lighting to surround his target to trap them for the water geyser to attack them. However, the crest completed before Zidane could properly finish the attack as getting hit by the first meteor broke his concentration and stopped the attack. He was repeatedly pelted by falling rocks as the last big one made contact with his body and forced him to the ground, crushing him and exploding.

Zidane's consciousness was fading. He was wondering how he managed to survive such an attack in the first place. His body was badly charred, and his ribs were crushed. He could barely breathe. He wheezed for any oxygen that would fill his lungs, but his chest just wouldn't expand to give them room. The Emperor began to dust himself off and walked calmly over toward Zidane. It was obvious he was badly hurt from earlier, but, with that confidant walk of his and that damn smirk on his face, he was sure he won. He sneered at Zidane, daring him to do anything. Zidane spat at him the most pitiful loogie he could manage. It only landed on the Emperor's pristine, golden boots, but the message was the same. The insect would continue to resist, even with death looming over him.

The Emperor sneered again, then gave Zidane one swift kick in the gut. What little air remained in Zidane's lungs was forced out as he tried to desperately get air back in his failing lungs. He gasped for air. He felt like a flounder flopping around on the deck of a boat, desperately searching for water to breathe.

"_Am… Am I going to die here, too?"_ he thought, though his fleeting consciousness made his head feel light and his thoughts feel hazy. _"Vaan… Bartz… I'm sorry…"_

"YOU ASSHOLE!"

The Emperor turned just in time to see a metal-covered fist come straight for his jaw. His entire body twisted from the blow as he was sent careening across the room. Zidane's fading, blue eyes tried to look at the face of the voice, but he could only manage to look at his feet. He couldn't make them out too well, everything was blurry, but he could tell they started running toward him, klink-klaning with each step. Next thing Zidane knew, he was being rolled over so that he was on his back. He coughed up a bit of blood, and then saw indigo eyes looking at him with worry.

"V-Vaan?" Zidane sputtered out.

"Yeah, it's me." Vaan's eyes made a quick scan of Zidane. "Man, the Emperor did a number on you."

"Yeah… well, you're late."

He chuckled, then started to cast a Curaga spell on Zidane. "Sorry, it took me a while to figure out what happened."

As the magicks began to repair Zidane, he asked, "Vaan… Is Bartz- … Is he okay?"

Vaan's face turned somber. "Honestly…? I don't know. I tried asking Cloud when he responded, but Cloud couldn't see him…"

"What do you care about that insect?" the Emperor interjected. He struggled back to his feet and tried to walk off the damage like nothing happened. "He was nothing but a worm to be crushed under my boot, and crush him I did."

"What do I care? WHAT DO I CARE?" Vaan screamed while returning to his feet. "That so-called 'insect' is my friend! That so-called 'worm' is my brother! You tried to kill my brother! You tried to kill _both_ of my brothers! You tried to kill my _family_, the people I love more than anyone else in this world" A brown crest began to form under Vaan's feet. "THAT'S WHAT I CARE, YOU POMPOUS, SELF-SERVING, MISERABLE, SLIMY, DAVID BOWIE WANNABE!" He slammed his foot down on the brown crest, causing earthen spikes to erupt from the ground and skewered Mateus.

The spikes retracted and left a huge hole in the Emperor's stomach as his body flopped on the ground in a bleeding, broken, mangled heap. If it weren't for the fact that one: killing him would be considered murder and two: Mateus was notorious for being one of those villains that didn't stay dead, Vaan would have left him to bleed out on his bastard throne. But, considering, as much as he deserved it, Vaan had a conscious, he spared enough magic to make sure that he wouldn't die… He just wasn't going to recover that bastard to one-hundred percent. That would be Cosmos's job. Just looking at this guy made Vaan want to vomit all over his gleaming, gold armor.

"Nice," Zidane said, returning to his feet. He was healed enough that he could move again, though not without pain. He figured he might need some healing time with Cosmos (not that he minded, though).

"Ah, sorry," Vaan apologized, scratching the back of his head. "Did you want to do that?" he added, noting the fact that Vaan essentially stole Zidane's victory. Stealing from a thief, and his own brother to boot? That's just low.

"Nah, man. After that epic insult, you deserved to kick his ass," he said, waving off the apology while dusting himself off. "Although…" Zidane walked over to the Emperor and gave him one, swift kick where the sun didn't shine. "I think I deserved to do that."

Vaan gave Zidane a round of applause causing Zidane to bow overdramatically in response. The two of them played a quick game of rock-paper-scissors to see who would be the one to carry "his royal hind-ass" back to Cosmos for the dark crystal extraction (though the two of them agreed there wasn't much of a difference between the two of them). Vaan grunted when his paper lost to Zidane's scissors. Zidane turned the scissors into a v for victory as Vaan picked up the bloody mess that was the Emperor. Well, at least he _smelled_ nice, unlike many of the other Warriors of Chaos. In Vaan's opinion, that probably _was_ the only "nice" thing about him. In Vaan's humble opinion, he'd rather have Vayne as Emperor than this guy. At least Vayne _acted_ with good intentions, even though he went about it the wrong way.

(-)

Vaan and Zidane raced through the gate that led them back to Cosmos's Sanctuary; the Emperor was dropped unceremoniously at first opportunity.

"COSMOS! COSMOS!" the two of them called out together.

Cosmos appeared in a flash of golden light and noticed the badly injured emperor in a mangled heap on the ground. "Ah, so it was the Emperor who Awakened this time. Very well. I shall heal him and extract the shard."

"That can wait, Cosmos!" Vaan interrupted. "We have something much more important to take care of!"

"Oh?"

"Cloud… Bartz…" Tears began to build up in Zidane's eyes. "They got hurt! Are they okay? You have to tell us!"

Cosmos instantly knew the gravity of the situation. She summoned up two spheres of water and opened the channels that connected her to Cloud and Bartz. In the spheres, the scene was dark. They could barely see anything due to a lack of light, as to be expected. They were trapped under a large pile of rubble. The first one they could see clearly enough was Cloud, his yellow hair catching their attention. His clothes and skin were badly burnt, and the chocobo he was on top of had many of its feathers burnt off. However, Cosmos could sense he was still alive; he was just unconscious. The other sphere, however, contained Bartz. He was far worse off. He was so badly charred; they couldn't even tell they were looking at Bartz at first. Cosmos sensed he was dangerously close to death. She would do her best to prevent that, but her magic was limited being so far away. Vaan and Zidane didn't care about protocol at this point. If keeping their secret meant that Bartz had to die, then they'd tell the whole world without a second thought. No secret was worth their brother's life.

Vaan and Zidane quickly summoned the gate that returned them home and ran through. They had to hurry! Their brother needed them, and they weren't about to let him down. They were returned to Mateus's private box. All of the party guests were returned to normal after the Chaos energy dissipated. Mateus flashed in a moment later. All were unconscious on the floor or couch, and the room was repaired of any damage from Zidane's attack. Vaan and Zidane tiptoed over the sleeping bodies and started making their way toward the field. Even though he wasn't _supposed_ to use magick in the real world, Vaan had casted Haste on himself and Zidane to get out there faster.

When Tidus heard that Cloud and possibly Bartz was trapped under the rubble, he, the other racers, emergency personnel, and a few members of the audience started frantically digging them out. They had to clear the debris quickly, but carefully. They didn't want the pile to shift and bury anyone else or further injure the two trapped underneath.

Vaan and Zidane were barred from entering the track by a man stating "Emergency personnel only" as his reasoning.

"Don't give me that crap!" Zidane spat. "Our brother is stuck under there!" The security eyed the two of them. They didn't look a thing alike to each other. He couldn't imagine whose brother they were. Vaan reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge that said he was the coach for the Lix Chocobo Ranch. The security grunted but relented and stepped aside to let them through.

The two of them made it to the part of the track that collapsed. They could see that they had managed to pull out one body from the rubble as he was being loaded up into the ambulance. It was Cloud. His clothes were black and ashen, and his skin was burnt all over. The doctors were shining lights in his eyes to see if they would get a response. Fortunately, they seemed satisfied as they went to hook him up to a saline pouch and various other machines while they rushed him to the hospital for emergency surgery. Tangerine, the chocobo Cloud was riding, was soon out as well and was being treated by the vets on hand.

Vaan and Zidane were soon helping Tidus and the others dig out Bartz and Boko. Five minutes… Five hours… The two brothers didn't know how long they were out there, but it felt like an eternity not knowing where their brother was. They knew he was in bad shape. They knew they needed to find him, the sooner the better. Sweat dripped from their brows as the tunnel was hot from the collection of people down there. Their hands began to ache, but they didn't care. All that mattered was finding Bartz and finding him alive.

After removing a few more rocks, Vaan began to see a faint glow coming from the pile. He tried his best to peak in with one eye. It was Bartz! The faint glow must have been from Cosmos sending healing magic his way. The glow also encompassed Boko. Bartz was probably subconsciously healing Boko as well. After all, they were partners. When Cosmos realized that Vaan had seen Bartz, the glow stopped. Help was not too far away. Vaan signaled to the others to tell them where they should focus their efforts. Before long, Bartz and Boko was free and was being loaded into an ambulance as well. Vaan and Zidane jumped aboard as well, stating they were family. They held onto Bartz's hand and told them how much they loved him and prayed that he would get better. They were together. They swore they'd never abandon each other, and they weren't about to start now.

(-)

Vaan and Zidane were told to wait in the waiting room. It was bland. The walls were painted cold-white. The magazines were ancient and boring. The chairs were horribly uncomfortable. And, to top it all off, the room stunk of medicine and despair. Sadness and worry hung in the air thick and suffocating. It was getting late, and Vaan yawned. He couldn't sleep. He was too worried about Cloud and Bartz to sleep. Zidane tried catching some shut-eye by resting on Vaan's shoulder. It was the only comfortable thing in the room… Or maybe comfort_ing_. Vaan's sleeves were a little wet from Zidane's tears. He periodically cried in his sleep. Was he thinking of Reks? Was he afraid that they'd be burying another brother? No, Bartz was a trooper.

"He'll pull through, no matter what!" Vaan said to reassure himself.

(-)

At some point, Vaan must have dozed off as well since he was stirred awake by a nudge on the shoulder. When he snapped awake, Zidane did as well since he was still sleeping on Vaan's other shoulder. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and the drool from the corner of his mouth. When he was a bit more awake, he noticed that a doctor that appeared to be fresh out of surgery had woken them up. Apparently, Bartz's surgery just finished, but Cloud was done a while ago since he wasn't as bad off.

"Although, there's something you must know…" the doctor began. "Bartz… He was in a lot of pain. We had no choice but to put him in a coma."

They quietly walked into the room. When Tidus heard something other than the beeps and whirrs of the many machines in the room, he looked back to see the two of them walking in. He quietly waved to them, and then went back to watching Cloud sleep. At least Cloud would wake up soon, he thought to himself. The blasts weren't concentrated on Cloud. But, Bartz… Bartz was barely alive when they pulled him out. He walked the thin line between life and death, and it was only thanks to Cosmos's hand that prevented him from crossing that line.

Bartz was covered in bandages as the tubes that supported his fragile life disappeared under the wrappings. There was barely any visible skin; the only skin that they could see not covered by bandages, tubes, or blankets was his left eye. They could see a streak of wetness run down from that eye. They wondered what Bartz was dreaming about. If they had to guess, it was either chocobo, Reks and Dad, or them… Actually, it was probably all three

They couldn't see it, but they could feel him smiling under those bandages. His brothers were here. They knew he'd wake up when it was time. Right now, it was time to let him sleep and recover. Vaan and Zidane would have cured him now if they could, but, considering his life wasn't in the balance anymore, they couldn't blow their secret. They had to let Bartz recover the old-fashioned way, even though that took forever. They stroked his bandaged hand. They felt it twitch under the bandages. The burns must have been more painful than they realized if he could still react even while in a coma. They tried their best not to further disturb their brother's sleep as they laid their heads down next to him for a bit more sleep.

"HOLY CRAP! I FORGOT!" Tidus suddenly shouted, causing Vaan and Zidane to nearly jump out of their skin.

"HOLY CRAP, DON'T DO THAT!" Zidane shouted back, clutching his chest. He swore his heart stopped for a moment there.

Vaan gasped for air for a moment before he asked, "Forgot what?"

"… Um… How are we gonna get home? Wasn't Cloud the one who brought us here?" he asked as he pointed to the medium-well cooked Cloud in the hospital bed.

The two brothers looked at each other. They had no idea either. "Uh… That is an excellent question," Vaan began.

"We'll get back to you on that," Zidane finished.

(-)

**Way to kill the mood, Tidus. Well, considering the company, it was probably bound to happen. Oh noez! Bartz is in a drug-induced coma! Mateus, you bastard! How dare you try to kill my favorite character! At least Zidane gave him a swift kick in the nads for everyone. The guy waaaaaay had it coming.**

**Next time: A bit of time skipping as the first major dance of the school year approaches! Everybody has a date, except for one certain mime… Will he find someone in time? Will he even go? Will a Warrior of Chaos crash the party? Stay tuned!**


	16. Precious Treasures

(-)

"_The greatest treasures are not easily found, but have a worth greater than any monetary denomination."_

(-)

The entire time Bartz was in a coma, he didn't feel like he was dreaming, per se. It was more like he was living another life… Or, perhaps, that is to say, his "other" life. The wind… It was similar, yet fresh and new. It was familiar, yet foreign. It was comforting, yet exhilarating. He joined his other-self on many adventures: exploring caves, traveling oceans, crossing rivers, climbing mountains… His other-self traveled the four corners of his globe searching high and low for treasure. However, no matter how many caves or forests or old ruins he explored, every time he emerged, despite a handful of wondrous, glittering treasures of all shapes and sizes, he seemed so disappointed. He would quickly sell the treasures he amassed and began exploring anew. This went on and on, each time the other Bartz seemed more disappointed than the last. Bartz couldn't help but wonder what his other-self was looking for so passionately that no amount of treasure or money seemed to satisfy him.

During one of "his" campfires, Bartz could tell that "Bartz" was reflecting hard on something, memories old and new, wondrous and true. Boko was curled up in a little ball near the warmth of the fire, sound asleep by the occasional squawks that were the bird-equivalent of snoring. "Bartz" scratched the feathers in the area between the eyes, right above the beak. The two of them knew from personal experience that this was the part of the body chocobo just love to have scratched the most. Boko purred in his sleep.

Bartz sighed. "I'm sorry, old friend. I don't mean to keep dragging you away from Coco, but you know the problem wish airships… It's just…" his voice trailed off. He took a moment to look up at the stars that filled the sky with specks of light. He began moving his finger around in the air, using the stars as points for his imaginary pictures. The first picture he completed seemed to take a shape similar to the constellation Bartz recognized as Leo, only the other Bartz seemed to add a slash to his face with a slight giggle. The next constellation seemed to look like the little dipper, but the tail was more curly. It kinda reminded Bartz of a monkey. "Bartz" put on a sly smile, like he had a trick or two up his sleeve that the new constellation would enjoy, much to the Leo's chargin. The other-Bartz then made one final trace of the stars, using the belt of Orion in his constellation. However, unlike the Orion Bartz was used to, this Bartz seemed to add more arms to it. After the other Bartz admired his imaginary handy-work, tears began to streak down his face. That was when Bartz understood: "he" wasn't looking for new treasure; "he" was searching for treasure he lost.

"I know the Rift exists here, somewhere…" he finally spoke again. "It's just the problem of _where_…" He poked the fire a bit with a stick to adjust the wood. "Although I didn't remember him at the time, Gilgamesh told me that he traveled to many different worlds via the Rift. If I can find it… Maybe I could too. Maybe… I could see everyone again; find out how they're all doing… I miss them." The other Bartz stretched and yawned. It was getting late, and he had a busy day of exploring ahead of him tomorrow. He couldn't very well do that half-asleep, now could he? Not if he wanted to live long enough to find that blasted Rift, anyway. The other Bartz crawled into his tent to sleep while the fire slowly burned itself out on the wood it needed to live.

Bartz felt sorry for his other-self. Here he was, living with Zidane as a brother, Gilgamesh as a ranch-hand, and Squall as a friend. He never worried about having to see them since they were all right there, by his side. It was funny; he could wear he could hear their voices on the wind calling his name.

"_Bartz…"_

"Wait a minute…" He looked around as the wind began to pick up, carrying familiar voices with it.

"_Damnit, Bartz… How long are you going to sleep?"_

"_Come on, bro! The sun's shining! The chocobo are singing!"_

"_Squall's _smiling_…"_

"_Am not."_

"_Well, if he _did_ wake up, you would be."_

"_Come on, Bartz, don't you want to see that? It's, like, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"_

"_Come on! It's not that rare!"_

"… _You're right. _Cloud_ smiling is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."_

"… _Very funny."_

Where was the breeze coming from? Bartz ran against the wind in a desperate attempt to locate the source. The wind grew stronger, pushing against his ethereal being harder and harder as if trying to keep him away. Bartz would have no parts of that. His friends and his family were calling him… Calling him home, and no wind, rain, sleet, snow, rockslide, earthquake, tsunami, or even God would stop him from going back. Spending time with his other-self made him realize there was one place he needed to be: at home with his brothers and his friends.

(-)

As he slowly regained consciousness, Bartz could smell a strange mixture of scents. The air was filled with the delightful perfume of flowers, and the nauseating aroma of medicine. He soon chocked as a tube was removed from his throat, causing him to cough and sputter, spittle splashing on the soft, cotton blankets he could feel draped over his body as he sat up. The next thing he realized, he was being squeezed by two bodies as a strong sensation of pain ran up his spine from the touch, causing him to instinctively shriek in pain. Despite his cry of pain, the two bodies didn't let go. He finally opened his eyes to see two familiar blond heads tightly wrapped around his torso. The two looked up at him with their bright-blue and indigo-blue eyes, red and puffy from crying.

"Bartz! You're awake! You're finally awake!" they said together, unable to hold back their joy.

"Took you long enough."

Bartz then looked up to see more familiar faces, some brunettes, several blonds, a guy with silver hair in a bandana, and a pinkette. Bartz looked around confused. Where was he? The last thing he really remembered was running in a black tunnel on the back of Boko. This… This wasn't anything like that.

Bartz soon had someone prying his brothers loose from his torso as he grabbed and turned Bartz's head to have a look into his eyes. The man flashed a light in Bartz's eyes which he followed when he started waving it around. After the light disappeared, there were spots left in Bartz's vision, obscuring the man's face a bit. He went to rub his eyes, but even that caused pain to shoot through his hands and right eye. Looking down at his hands, he could see why. They were red and blistered all over running up to his arms. He felt like he deiced to take a stroll through the Land of Discord and bathe in the magma but forgot to bring the potions.

The man in white turned to the others in the room. "Judging from his reaction to their hugs," he said, pointing to Zidane and Vaan, "he's still a bit sensitive to the touch. He probably needs more time to recover. A few more weeks."

While Bartz could tell many were nodding their heads in understanding, his brothers and Tidus seemed disappointed.

"Aw, what?" Tidus began, throwing his arms up in the air. "That's messed up! He's going to miss Halloween!"

Bartz's jaw nearly dropped to the floor when he heard that. _"H-Halloween? How long have I been asleep?"_

"Aw, come on! It's not like Bartz's has to worry about a costume! Just wrap him up in his bandages again, and we'll say he's a mummy!" Zidane joked.

Lightning and Squall rolled their eyes. Firion translated for them. "G-Guys, if the doctor says he needs more rest, he needs more rest." Zidane, Vaan, and Tidus folded their arms in a huff. Bartz laughed nervously at the antics of his brothers and friends. Looking around, Bartz soon noticed that what looked like Zack, Tifa, and Aerith had congregated at another bed. In that bed was Cloud, his skin showing blotches of red not unlike Bartz's, but he seemed better off since the red blotches were nearly gone. The doctor gave him a quick check-up since he was in the room.

"Well, Mr. Strife. I'd say your recovery is coming along well. You can probably be released at any time now."

That was good news to Zack since Cloud was soon in a headlock. "Here that, man? You're nearly out of this place!"

"I'm beginning to hate hospitals…" Cloud moaned. He already spent more time here than he really wanted. He was beginning to think he might as well reserve a room for the eventuality for when he'd end up back here for surviving some other disaster.

Zack laughed heartily at that and rubbed Cloud's head. Cloud's spikes were momentarily disturbed and flat until they decided to pop back into their gravity-defining stance. Tifa gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as they, Squall, Terra, Firion, Lightning, and the doctor left the room to give the family some private time.

When the coast was sufficiently clear, Vaan and Zidane were soon sitting Indian-style on Bartz's bed. Zidane decided to free his tail from its hiding spot since he didn't expect anyone to bother them. The doctor just left and probably wouldn't be back for a while, and Squall, Terra, and Tidus were with the group of visitors; they'd offer some sort of warning before entering.

Vaan and Zidane looked down at their feet. "What do you remember, Bartz?" Vaan asked.

"Um… You guys mean the last thing I remember?" The two of them nodded, though it was slow and sad. Bartz pondered for a moment. "… Not a whole lot," he answered shaking his head. "I remember racing chocobo, then falling into the tile pit and running through the tunnel… But after that, nothing." Bartz took a moment to examine his hands and arms. "I assume something bad happened though."

"There was an explosion on the track… in that tunnel…" Zidane started, though tears began to well up in his eyes again, and his throat became hoarse and dry.

Bartz eyes flashed with understanding. "Oh my god… I was caught in that accident, wasn't I?"

Zidane shook his head. "Bartz… You don't get it…"

"It wasn't an accident." Bartz looked over toward the other bed as Cloud was sitting up and curled his body toward them. "Bartz, that was a deliberate attempt on your life."

"What?"

Zidane explained. "Bartz, that day… Mateus Awakened. One of his jockeys turned into a Manikin and set a trap for you in the tunnel… You barely survived."

"If it wasn't for Cosmos… You probably wouldn't have," Vaan added.

"The blasts were concentrated on you, but Cloud got caught in them too," Zidane explained, pointing to Cloud. "The explosions also caused a cave-in. Tidus and the other jockeys dug you guys out..." Zidane couldn't continue. That day… That day was too close of a call for him to want to remember. Seeing Bartz body… He looked more like a lump of charcoal than a human, even with Cosmos doing her best to keep Bartz as a member of the living.

Vaan continued where Zidane couldn't. "Bartz, you were in so much pain, that the doctors put you in a medical coma, which you've been in for nearly five weeks."

"_F-Five weeks?"_

He studied his brothers. When he got a better look at them, it didn't seem so far-fetched. They looked thinner and paler than he remembered. They didn't seem to be eating or sleeping well. Even though it wasn't really his fault, Bartz felt guilty for abandoning them when they really needed him. Even now, he was awake, but he still had to stay here. If it weren't for the fact that magic had to remain a secret, he would have cast Cure on himself just to get out of this god-forsaken place. He had places to be and stuck in bed in a hospital room _definitely_ wasn't one of them.

His brothers were soon telling him about what they've done while Bartz was asleep. Apparently, the whole school knew of Bartz's little brush with death thanks to a certain brunette's girlfriend. Vaan and Zidane began learning how to cook out of necessity, though they were more or less helpless as they burned the multitude of dishes. The house didn't sound like it was being held together all that well either without Bartz around. Vaan told him that Lightning and Firion would stop by every so often to help out, though they really couldn't do much. Also, a few more Warriors of Chaos Awakened while he was sleeping, Cid Raines, the police chief, and Genesis, the English Literature teacher. They were taken care of swiftly by the other Warriors, so at least Bartz didn't have to worry about any Warriors of Chaos while he was out of commission.

(-)

Bartz spent the next few weeks sitting dutifully in bed to let his body recover the natural way. Halloween came and went, much to Bartz's disappointment. Even though he was too old to go trick-or-treating, Bartz still loved to buy lots of candy from the grocery stores. This was always his favorite time of year. He even had a Halloween party planned. With his improved social standing, he probably could have gotten quite a few guests too. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Bartz heard Cosmos call a couple of times, though Bartz knew he couldn't help his fellow Warriors out. It was not that he was afraid of getting _hurt_, per se… Rather, he was more afraid about getting _healed_. Magic still had to be a secret, and too miraculous of a recovery might draw unnecessary attention to him. Seymore Guado, the mayor (which Tidus swore he would never vote for when he turned eighteen), and Zemus, another patient of the coma ward, Awoke and decided to cause some Chaos. His fellow Warriors fought and returned triumphant in a moment that Time refused to acknowledge. It was, essentially, a moment that came and went for Bartz: a moment of sitting here, trapped in the room where the air was stale, the food was bland, and no amount of flowers would make seem like home.

It was beginning to drive him nuts! His skin was itchy but scratching it only hurt. His skin was pealing but helping it along only caused it to fester. He tried to focus on the work he had to catch up on to prevent him from losing what was left of his sanity. Cloud was released some time ago, so it he was basically left to recover alone. Or, at least he would be, if his friends didn't keep visiting him. Oh, he didn't mind, not at all. Quite the contrary, he loved it when his friends visited. It made this dull, white room at least _somewhat_ livable.

Lightning, Firion, and Aerith stopped by when there was a lull in work, but considering homecoming was on the way, they became increasingly rare as they filled out orders for corsages. Zack and Cloud would stop by when they weren't busy with their shift on the Force, but Zack was absolutely no help with Bartz's work. At least Cloud could help out a little, even if it wasn't much. Speaking of no help, his brothers, while he loved them dearly, were just as confused by Bartz's work as he was, and Vaan _had_ those classes. Even Squall was mostly useless with helping Bartz, but that wasn't really his fault.

"Bartz, we need to find you a date!"

"Rinoa, I don't know if I'll be able to even go to Homecoming!" Bartz said, not really looking up from his Math book. He was trying to solve yet another equation for "x," but the letters and numbers next to each other always left him confused. "I have more important things to worry about, anyway, like, I dunno, the school work I missed while _I WAS IN A COMA_!"

"See?" Squall interjected. Sure, he liked Rinoa, but she was very good at testing his patience. "Now, let me help him with his work."

"You can't 'not go' to Homecoming!" Rinoa explained. "It's, like… Not going to your Class Reunion! It's a social nightmare!"

"Rinoa, if you haven't noticed, _I'm_ a social nightmare, right now," Bartz retorted, noting the unsightly red blotches all over his skin. They weren't as bad as they were a few weeks ago, but he still wasn't anything to write home about.

Rinoa waved it off. "That's why they invented make-up."

"Two things. One) I'm a guy. Two) That's going to make me itch like crazy!"

Squall was getting really annoyed now. "Rinoa, will you drop this? You tell him this every time you visit, and nothing ever gets done."

"Besides, who would want to go with me? All of the good ones have been asked, and I'm sure no one would want one well-done date. Well done _steak_, maybe, but not a _date_."

Rinoa laughed and punched Bartz in the arm, though she immediately regretted the decision when he screamed and clutched his arm from the burn she aggravated. True, it would be difficult to dance with someone who was still a bit sensitive to the touch. While the doctor's tentative release was shortly before the dance, it could rightly change if Bartz was still unable to move around without too much pain. It was obvious that Bartz really wanted to get out of here. He looked just as pale (where the skin wasn't red) and thin as his brothers. While the bed was soft and the flowers hid the smell of medicine, it still wasn't _home_.

Still, Rinoa wouldn't give up hope! It was her- er- his social standing in the balance, after all. "I think I might know _one_ person who doesn't have a date…" Rinoa quickly darted out of the room to make a phone call to someone on her cell phone.

A shiver ran down Bartz spine. "… I suddenly have a very _bad_ feeling about this…"

(-)

While Rinoa was outside, Squall finally started to make some headway on helping Bartz with his work. Though, the tutoring session was interrupted by the distinct sound of a motorcycle pulling around the corner. The sound reverberated off the glass of Bartz's room, even though they were rather high up off the ground (not that Bartz was happy about that fact. He periodically had nightmares about falling out the hospital window not unlike Squall did back when Cloud Awakened). Squall peered out the window to see if he could spot the obnoxious rider, though he was too high up to get a good look at him. He rolled his eyes and shrugged, and then went back to what he was doing earlier.

Not long after that, there was a knock on the door. Before Bartz could welcome them in, Rinoa barged in with the person she apparently called. Behind Rinoa stood a young woman with silver locks styled in a more masculine style: cut short and somewhat duck-tailed in the front. Her crimson eyes scanned the room as her shiny, leather jacket adorned with spikes squeaked and churned with each move her torso made. She wore jeans that were tucked into heavy, combat-like boots that were seemingly held together by belts. Under her arm was a black biker's helmet with a painting of a seagull with one open wing and two, long, black, leather gloves. Apparently, the biker from earlier was Rinoa's friend…

Bartz trembled. Compared to her, Lightning seemed like Snow White. "Um… H-Hello?"

The silver-haired biker's blood-red eyes shot over to the source of the voice and scanned Bartz up and down. Bartz fidgeted nervously. She snorted and put her gloves and helmet on the table next to Bartz bed and pulled up a chair to sit.

Although Squall was wearing his best poker-face, Bartz could tell he, too, was a little nervous about Rinoa's choice. "Rinoa, who's that?"

"Oh, Bartz, Squall, this is Paine," she introduced pointing to their guest. "She's a friend of Yuna's."

"… _Forgive me if I find that hard to believe…"_ Squall thought. She'd look like she'd sooner beat the crap out of Yuna… Then again, Squall was guilty of that himself when it came to Bartz, so he was a bit more willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Let's give these two some alone time, Squall," Rinoa said, dragging Squall by the arm. He shot a look over at Bartz. If the look on his face could speak, it would be screaming, "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH HER!"

Despite his best efforts, Squall and Rinoa had left the room and closed the door behind them. He was now alone with the person who would probably put him back into a coma. Bartz half-wished he was still in it. It's not that he had a problem talking to girls; that wasn't it at all! It's just, when it came to girls, he only viewed them as _friends_. He didn't really know how to talk to girls on the relationship level. His other memories were no help either. He traveled with _three_ girls and didn't hook up with any of them! Then again, if he asked Farris, she would kill him. If he asked Lenna, Farris would kill him. And, heaven forbid, if he asked Krile, both Farris and Lenna would kill him. No matter what, he'd probably end up dead, which may be another reason he was searching so desperately for the Rift.

Speaking of killing, that glare… Oh god, that glare sent shivers down his spine. It made Lightning _and_ Squall's motherly by comparison. Where was a hiding spot when he needed it?

Still, maybe she only _looked_ scary? Squall was the same way, leather-clad and all, but, deep down, once he warms up to someone, he's quite a good friend. Maybe she was the same way. It would explain how she was friends with Yuna. … It was worth a shot anyway.

Bartz decided to try and break the ice with some small talk. "So… Uh… You have a motorcycle?"

She shot another icy glare at him. "What do you think?"

Bartz recoiled a bit into his imaginary turtle shell. "S-Sorry." Paine kept running her eyes up and down him. Bartz felt uncomfortable. He felt her starring at the red blotches on his skin. "P-Please don't do that. It's making me uncomfortable."

She ignored him. "I've never seen a case of road-rash that bad."

"'Road-rash'?"

"Well, what else could it be?"

"You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"I… uh… got caught in a little… accident…"

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "What, a dumb prank exploded in your face?"

"… Well, something exploded in my face alright, but it wasn't a prank…"

Bartz then went on to tell her about his day at the races and how it was suddenly cut short by his attempted murder with magic- er-rather _dynamite_. He's been in the hospital recovering ever since.

Paine nodded, recalling something. "Oh, I remember now. I thought I vaguely remembered something about a local kid surviving an explosion and a cave-in. Never imagined it would be you." Her eyes scanned him up and down again. "You don't _look_ like much."

He laughed nervously. "I get that a lot."

She leaned back on her chair and thought over something for a moment. "Alright, hotshot. I like black roses, and no limousines or that whole 'matching thing'."

"… Huh?"

"If you make it out of the hospital, I'll go with you to Homecoming," she rose from her chair and brought her face uncomfortably close to Bartz's. Bartz instinctively lurched his head back. "_Anyone_ who can survive an explosion's gotta be tough." She wrote down her number and address on one of Bartz's homework sheets. After that, she gathered her things and began to leave. Though, she stopped herself when she was halfway out the door. "Oh, and I expect a nice dinner before the dance. No vegetarian crap."

Bartz just watched her leave with a stunned stupid expression on his face. "… What… What just happened?"

(-)

**Hey, look! Drama of a different type this time! Is there a bit of Bartz and Paine shipping here?**

**Yes, yes there is. Option C (or D, I guess, depending on your point of view) for Bartz since Bartz is straight and Lightning's taken. I figure he needs someone tough by his side to keep him in line, not unlike Squall and Lightning, so I picked the other femm-Squall. … Bartz isn't too happy about it though. What about Lenna and Farris? … Think of Farris as Lightning, Lenna as Serah, and Bartz as Snow. … Yeah, we've already played that game. We know how it turns out, and the last thing Bartz needs right now is the crap beat out of him.**

**Next time: The fateful day arrives! Bartz may be a Master Dancer, but there are no Job Classes on understanding women! Will Bartz Master a new Ability, or will he need to make like a Time Mage and Teleport? Find out!**


	17. One Awkward Dinner Conversation

**Don't worry, everyone! I'm not dead! I just haven't felt like writing in a while. But, I think I'm back in the mood. I guess roleplaying as Bartz on Gaia really got me wanting to continue this story. I just really wasn't sure how to write a dance since I only went to one, and I didn't particularly like it.**

** Anyway, I started watching the Persona 4 animation, and I realized, "… Wait, did I just Persona Final Fantasy?" Because the premises are kinda similar: Seemingly ordinary high-school guys go to another world to fight using their own latent powers against someone's personified darkness… I never played a Persona game, by the way, but I can't help but notice the similarities…**

** Well, since my internet was dead (Comcast was being rather douchey), and I couldn't spam Gaia as Bartz (and I just found a Squall account too xp), I guess I'll continue the story. :p**

(-)

"_A simple touch is sometimes all you need."_

(-)

Bartz fidgeted uncomfortably in his suit. He got lucky that Firion's spare suit fit him so well. The burns did not really bother him too much, but they were a little itchy. He, his brothers, and Squall decided to go together. Bartz had spent the entire day preparing a large meal. Fortunately, he did not have school to worry about today. The school usually took the Wednesday off before Thanksgiving for the Homecoming game and dance. It was not a Thanksgiving-level feast, but it was still a rather grand meal for everyone. It had to be considering they were feeding eight people (three of which could probably eat enough for two). At least when Bartz was around, Vaan and Zidane did not nearly burn down the house when they tried to cook.

The doorbell rang. The three of them went to get the door. Bartz felt his hands were somewhat clammy even under the white gloves he decided to wear. Vaan opened the door to greet their guests, Squall, his date, Rinoa, Vaan's date, Terra, Zidane's date, Garnet, and Bartz's date, Paine. Squall was wearing a simple black suit buttoned up hiding the white shirt underneath. Against his wishes, Claudina put make-up on his face to cover his scar. He was noticeably grumpy. Terra wore a light-pink, strapless dress with white opera gloves and a large rose on her right hip. Her hair was tied into a bun with a small, crystal tiara in her hair. Rinoa was wearing a short, white, spaghetti-strap dress with light, blue roses running across the chest and a light-blue ribbon tied around her waist with the bow on her left hip, white high-heel shoes, and a gold bracelet on her left wrist. Garnet was wearing a dark, red dress, as befitting her name, with silver and red-garnet drop earrings, a black-velvet choker with a garnet charm, and silver laurels. Her hair was tied in a large braid down her back. Paine decided to wear something more akin to a suit (not that Bartz was surprised in the least), with the black jacket open and her shirt buttoned just high enough to prevent anyone from seeing her goods, but low enough that people could see the leather choker she also decided to wear. At the end of her black slacks were black stilettos. She wore small, diamond studs in her ears and a red sash to complete the ensemble.

Terra nearly leaped into Vaan's arms as the two of them hugged as a hello. Zidane attempted to woo Garnet, as usual, but the air between Paine and Bartz was just too tense for Bartz to make any sort of move but the standard "Uh… Hey, what's up?" Paine rolled her eyes and grunted.

The dates sat across from each other in the rather large dining room in the brothers' home. As per Paine's request, Bartz had prepared a rather lovely steak dinner… Actually, it was fliet mignon, but it was essentially steak wrapped in bacon. Vaan was talking about their various exploits in "a new online game" where he made himself seem like he was always rescuing the others. Zidane made sure to correct him at points, but more or less did the same thing to try and impress his own date. Squall and Rinoa just conversed about their day in their rather mature way (except when Rinoa occasionally slipped into girl-gossip). Bartz? Bartz was too shy to speak to his rather rough-and-tumble date. He wanted to say something, but the words would just get caught in his throat. Well, he figured he might want to start with small-talk, right?

"So, uh, Paine… How's the food?" he stuttered looking down at his plate. He could feel his cheeks and ears warm up from the surge of blood rushing to his face_. "O Brave Warrior of Light and Defender of Cosmos… afraid of talking to a girl. How mortifying"_ he could not help to think. He could talk to Terra, Rinoa, Garnet, and the other girls just fine. Why could he not speak to Paine?

"It's fine," she answered between chews.

"'Fine'? It's delicious!" Rinoa chimed in. "Bartz, where'd you order this from?"

Bartz scratched the back of his head in modesty, "I, uh, made it. I like to cook."

"You _made_ this? Well, no wonder Seifer was always stealing your lunch, right, Squall?" Squall chocked a bit on the fillet mignon he was eating. Rinoa elbowed Paine in the ribs, "You got yourself quite a catch, eh? He can cook. He can make you laugh, and he's not too hard on the eyes."

"I guess."

"What do you mean, 'you guess?"

"I mean he hasn't officially asked me out, yet."

"And, you're still going to the dance with him?" She looked accusingly at Bartz.

Bartz was interrupted eating a fork-full of rice when he felt the stares of Rinoa and Paine on him. His eyes darted back and forth between them. "… What?"

"Aren't you going to ask her out?"

"I didn't realize I was supposed to!"

"YOU'RE GOING TO THE DANCE WITH HER, AREN'T YOU?"

"I thought we were going as friends!"

"Bartz, how are you going to settle down and have a family if you think like that?"

"I'M STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL, RINOA! I have more important things to think about than my eventual wife! I have to graduate high school and go to college all while managing a ranch and taking care of my brothers AND STOP THE FORCES OF CHAOS FROM DESTROYING THE EARTH!"

Squall, Zidane, Vaan, and Terra promptly spat out their food in shock.

"W-Wha-?"

"BARTZ!" Zidane shouted accusingly.

"I can't _believe_ you just said that," Squall added.

"I WAS FRUSTRATED! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"

"Okay, what are you all talking about?" Paine said flatly, prompting everyone to shut up.

Squall leaned back in his chair and sighed, "This is _really_ not how I wanted Rinoa to find out about this."

Bartz slumped over on the table, "I already said I was sorry."

Zidane ran his fingers through his golden locks and sighed. "Looks like the cat's out of the bag now. Lucky you don't have to explain this to Terra, Vaan."

Vaan rubbed the bridge of his nose and grinned.

"So, wait, wait, _wait_," Rinoa interjected. "You guys are serious about the whole 'forces of chaos' thing?"

"As hard as it is to believe, Rinoa, it's true," Terra affirmed. "If they told me before a few months ago, I wouldn't have believed them, either."

"Your own mom is one of them, Rinoa," Squall added flatly.

"So are my uncles, surprisingly," Terra giggled. "I'm just glad he's not the other Kefka."

"Wait, my mom? Now I know you're crazy." Rinoa giggled nervously. "My mom's just a really good lawyer. That doesn't make her evil."

"I didn't believe it when I first saw it either, Rinoa. But, when I realized who I was in another time and another world, it was suddenly not so farfetched."

"Why do you think Squall changed overnight and became friends with us?" Zidane chuckled.

Garnet chuckled, "Well, I'm not complaining, right, Terra?"

"I think the school's still wondering why I decided to go out with Vaan."

"H-Hey!"

"So, you guys have, what, magic powers or something?" Paine asked.

Bartz scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, basically."

Paine smirked and leaned back. "I knew there was something about you I liked."

"Huh?"

She leaned forward again. "I could see it in your eyes. You have the eyes of a fighter. A good one."

"… You can tell that just by looking at me?"

"I've got a 5th degree Black Belt. I can tell a serious fighter when I see one."

"I… see…"

"So, your stay at the hospital…"

"Yup, Force of Chaos. I got ambushed in the tunnel."

"Wait, I'm confused," Garnet spoke up, "If you and everyone have magic powers, why didn't you just heal yourself and get out of the hospital faster?"

Bartz sighed, "Trust me, I _wanted_ to, but magic really should remain a secret. It's not something people are supposed to know about."

"Too miraculous of a recovery would have raised eyebrows," Zidane added.

"And the last thing I want is to be strapped down in Area 51 as their new specimen," Vaan finished.

Squall sighed and shrugged, "And I thought Bartz had an active imagination."

"So, anyone else besides you five have magic powers?" Garnet asked.

"Uh, just Tidus of our classmates. Cloud Strife, a member of the police force, also does," Bartz answered.

"So, can we get magic powers?" Paine asked.

"I… don't think so," Bartz answered, shaking his head. "It's… well, complicated. Maybe?"

"'But, you don't want anyone else to put their lives on the line, right?"

He sighed. "I would love it if I could have more of our old friends fight with us, but it's more than just risking your life. You also _change_, and there's no going back after it."

"You noticed it first hand with me, Rinoa. I'm not the same Squall I was before that day."

Rinoa grew quiet. He was right. It was something she noticed right away. Seifer did too. The whole school noticed Squall was different. "… Does Yuna know?"

Bartz shook his head. "If Tidus wants to tell her, that's his choice, but we're going to tell him we told you guys tonight. He might do the same." Noticing the serious and tense air, Bartz forced a laugh to try and lighten the atmosphere. "Guess I ruined dinner, huh?"

"Well, you better not ruin the dance!" Rinoa pointed accusingly at Bartz. "This is an important social event!"

"Alright, alright! Seesh."

(-)

The gym where the dance was taking place was dimly lit and decorated with various paper craft befitting a school dance. It was not really anything to write home about, but at least it almost did not look like the same gym many of the students were sweating up a storm only a few hours earlier. Many of the students were on the floor, grooving to the beats DJ Snowstorm (aka Snow Villiers) was laying on them.

"And now," Snow spoke into the microphone, "we're going to slow things down a bit here. It's time to get closer to your dates, gentlemen."

Bartz could not stifle his snicker at Snow's rather lame attempt at being suave. He soon noticed that the others were taking their dates and beginning the slow dance. He sighed and ran his fingers through his short, brown hair. _"Welp, now or never,"_ he thought. Bartz took out a hidden black rose from his suit and bowed before Paine. "Shall we dance?"

She took the rose in his hand and chuckled. "Just don't step on my feet."

"Hey, I'll have you know I'm a master dancer. Dancing with knives is a very effective way to dispatch monsters."

(-)

** … Did I get Paine right? I never played X-2, so I'm kinda worried I didn't portray her quite right. Eh. Welp, BartzxPaine budding romance, yay!**

** No action this chapter. We can't always have a Chaos warrior awaken and ruin things, can we? At least let them have some semblance of a life. But, looks like the secrets out. Way to go, Bartz. But, hey, I think it's only helped your relationship with Paine. Go you!**

** Next chapter: Thanksgiving! The three brothers are having their first Thanksgiving without their father, but not without family! Two new people are joining the cast! Bet'chya can't guess who.**


	18. The Sky and its Shadow

(-)

"_Come together in your hands and your hearts."_

(-)

The Lix Chocobo ranch was in an unusual frenzy. The boys had to clean, cook, dust, and make the house look presentable. It wasn't every day that their uncle, aunt, and cousins come over for Thanksgiving. It wasn't so bad off from the day before because of the major cleaning they did for the dance, but they still had to prepare rooms for everyone. They were going to stay the holiday weekend. Bartz, Zidane, and Vaan were excited. It wasn't every day that their cousins came in from the islands.

Bartz was busy cooking the bird for the night's feast while Vaan and Zidane sat impatiently at the front door waiting for their family to arrive. Every so often, Bartz had to yell at them for slacking off, but it wasn't like he wasn't once guilty of the same thing.

He threw his head back and laughed. "I'm becoming more like my dad every day."

Vaan and Zidane were in Reks' room preparing two beds for their cousins to sleep in. It was the first time they've spent any prolonged amount of time in Reks' room since the incident. It stirred up some nostalgic memories for the duo, but they wiped the tears away. It was a time of celebration, not crying. They pulled out two blow-up beds for them just so the two wouldn't fight over who got bed privileges. Vaan wiped the sweat from his brow and exhaled a sigh of relief. The room was finally ready. Cleaning several months of dust can really take it out of a guy.

The timing couldn't be better either since, just then, the doorbell rang.

"WE'LL GET IT!" Vaan and Zidane yelled in unison as they bolted down the steps to the front door. They made it to the door before Bartz could even find the time to put down the dough he was kneading for a loaf of bread. It was probably for the better, too, since his hands, face, and hair were now covered in flour and bread dough. He may be a good cook, but that doesn't necessarily mean a clean one.

When the two practically threw the door off the hinges, they were greeted with the (mostly) happy faces of their extended family. Their uncle was a rather tall man with dark brown hair in somewhat messy spikes with his bangs framing his face. His blue eyes practically lit up upon seeing his nephews. His black, sleeveless shirt was covered by a small, open red vest. His tan khakis were held up by a black belt with a golden buckle that was a stylized gold heart with three, thorny prongs sticking out on the bottom. Their aunt had dark blue hair in a more mature hair style that was neither too boyish nor too girlish. Her dark, sleeveless dress was covered in a magenta, short-sleeved cardigan with a white sweater underneath. Around her waist was a blue belt-like sash. Her long, black socks stopped about half-way up her thigh, and she wore small, white, high-heeled boots. She wore a necklace with a similar charm to her husband's belt buckle, only in silver. Cousin number one was a young man with messy, brown hair that spiked in every which way that would give Cloud's do a run for its money. He wore a black, short-sleeved, hooded jacket over a blue, sleeveless hoodie with a red-pouch, black, parachute shorts, and yellow sneakers. Around his neck was a silver chain with a crown charm on the end of it. Their other cousin had dirty-blong hair with slightly tamer spikes except for the ones in the front that, again, would give Cloud hair envy. He wore an ivory, short-sleeved coat with checkered patterns on the sleeves and upper chest over a zippered vest with a thorny-x zipper-pull, pants that were black until the mid-thigh where a second layer of tan was buttoned onto it, gray shoes with red stripes, a checkered wristband and two bandages on his ring and middle finger, one black and one white.

"UNCLE TERRA, AUNT AQUA! SORA, ROXAS!" Zidane yelled happily.

"How is everyone?" Vaan finished.

Terra gave them a big hug. "We're great!" Aqua gave the two of them a kiss on the cheek. Sora and Roxas sniffed the air. A slight bit of drool could be seen coming out of Sora's mouth.

"Aw, man, something smells _goooooooood_."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "_Everything_ smells good to you."

"Nuh-uh! I don't like the smell of vegetables."

Aqua shot Sora a cold glare. "You'll eat your vegetables and like it."

Sora gulped. "Y-Yes, Mom."

Vaan and Zidane nervously chuckled.

"HI, EVERYONE!" Batz yelled from the kitchen. "I'm kinda covered in dinner. I'll give a proper 'hello' later."

"You want some help with that, Bartz, dear?" Aqua asked.

"I'm not one to look a gift chocobo in the mouth."

Aqua took off her cardigan and made her way toward the kitchen to help Bartz out with the rather lavish meal.

Zidane opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a startled Aqua from the kitchen saying, "Goodness, Bartz! How did you even manage _that_?" remarking on the mess he made while cooking. Bartz responded with, "It wasn't my fault! I swear!"

Sora and Roxas tiled their head toward the kitchen in a futile attempt to see inside. "That bad?" they responded in unison.

"Yup," Zidane and Vaan answered.

Terra scratched the back of his head. "Well, it looks like dinner might be a while. Why don't you guys go ride the chocobo? It's been a while since they've seen you. I'll take our stuff in."

Sora couldn't contain his excitement and squealed with delight. Roxas rolled his eyes and sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder how we're twins…"

(-)

The four of them made it out to the stables to see that Gilgamesh was feeding the birds.

"Yo! Uncle Gilgamesh!" Sora called out waving.

He looked up from the bushel of hay his pitchfork had grabbed and turned around. "Sora! Roxas! You're here already? Come here and give your ol' Uncle Gilgamesh a hug!" They did as they were told, though they nearly immediately regretted it when Gilgamesh's hug nearly forced all the air out of their lungs. After letting go of their embrace, he ruffled the twins' hair momentarily disturbing their hairstyles until the spikes popped back into place. "I'm guessing you're here to ride some chocobo?"

"Just for a bit," Vaan answered.

"Bartz is getting some much-needed help with dinner from Aunt Aqua," Zidane finished. "Dinner will probably be ready in an hour or so."

Giglamesh let out a hardy laugh. "Guess I'd better get ready. I'll see you kids later."

Sora and Roxas both grumbled that they weren't kids under their breath as Giglamesh headed back toward his small house on the poperty. The guys ran inside the stables to the greeting warks and kwehs of the resident chocobo. Sora stood on his tiptoes in order to get a better view inside one of the stables, Boko's to be precise. He was still recovering from the little ordeal he and Bartz went through and was snoozing contently in a little pile of yellow feathers in a corner of his stall.

"I can't believe Boko's nearly fully recovered after what he went through," Sora thought out loud to himself.

Vaan tapped him by the shoulder which caused Sora to look back at him. "Boko's not quite ready to be ridden yet. He's still in a bit of pain."

"Alright, I guess I'll take Ebony."

Roxas was pointing toward their white chocobo's stall. "I'm guessing you want me to take Ivory?"

"Well, duh! Us twins need to stick together!" he proudly stated with a big, goofy grin on his face.

Roxas sighed and folded his arms. "… Fine, but promise me you won't start singing 'I believe I can fly.'"

"H-Hey! My singings not that bad! What about my rendition of Under the Sea?"

Roxas raised an eye brow at that retort. "… You really don't want to know my opinion," he said flatly.

"Oh, yeah? What about you, Mr. 'My Shiny Teeth and Me'?" Sora asked with the sort of inflection that implied he was asking, "What now?"

Roxas's cheeks instantly turned beat-red. "S-shut up! It's catchy, okay?"

Vaan and Zidane were doing their damnest to not burst into a laughing fit right then and there.

(-)

The four decided to race out to the treehouse on the edge of the ranch for a bit. There wasn't really much to do out there. It was a little too chilly to relax in the treehouse, but it was a good marker for a place for the chocobo to run to. Vaan on Lilly managed to make it there first, followed by Roxas on Ivory, Zidane on Tangerine, with Sora on Ebony bringing up the rear.

"Sheesh, Sora," Zidane chuckled. "If Bartz were here, he'd probably flip over how lousy your riding technique was."

"I'm more of a kart-racer kind of guy anyway," he answered.

"And, yet, you even have trouble with that," Roxas countered. Sora shot an angry glare over at Roxas.

"It's good to see that they love each other so much," Vaan said to Zidane in a half-whisper laced with sarcasm. Zidane hummed in agreement to the sarcasm.

As they began to run back, Roxas ran alongside Vaan. "Vaan?" Roxas called. He turned his head over to see him. "… I know I said this already, but I'm sorry about Reks and Uncle Dorgann. I know Mom and Dad offered to take you in…"

Sora had pulled up to the other side of Vaan. "Yeah, why didn't you guys want to? It would have been awesome!"

Vaan sighed and shook his head. "It's complicated."

Sora pouted, but accepted the answer. Roxas, however, hated when people told him something was "complicated." He knew that was just code for, "I don't want to tell you because I don't think you'd understand." It just really bugged him when people undermine his intelligence. He always blamed Sora for that. He eased on the reigns a bit to pull up next to Zidane.

"Zidane, why did you guys say, 'No'?" he asked.

Zidane looked at him confused. "Huh? 'No' to what?" He missed the first part of the conversation.

"To coming to live with Mom and Dad on the islands. I know officially Gilgamesh is your guardian, but even Sora knows Bartz is the one really taking care of everyone."

"I'm guessing Vaan didn't give you the answer you wanted?"

"He just said it was 'complicated.'"

"… Well, I guess to explain it in a way that will satisfy you, we really _can't_ leave."

"Huh? 'Can't'? Why?"

"… Well, we just have too much to do around here _to_ leave."

"… A chocobo ranch can't be that much work… Can it?"

"… Well, you'd be surprised what we sometimes go through around here." Zidane flicked the reigns and sped up, leaving Roxas behind as he wondered what exactly Zidane meant by that.

(-)

After the four put their chocobo back in their proper stables, Bartz ran up to them from the house. From his smell and slight dampness to his hair, Bartz had apparently recently gotten out of the shower to wash out what bits of dinner he got on himself while cooking.

"Oh, good!" he exclaimed. "I was just about to fetch you guys."

"Dinner about done?" Vaan asked.

"Yeah."

"Great, because I'm _starving_!" Sora exaggerated… until his stomach grumbled in agreement. Roxas gave him a punch to the shoulder. "Ow!" he shouted while rubbing it. "What?"

Bartz couldn't help but laugh. He quickly regained his composure, though. "You guys head in and get started. I'll get Giglamesh."

"We'll come," Zidane said.

"It wouldn't be polite to start without everyone, anyway," Roxas finished.

"Alright, alright."

The five walked up to Gligamesh's door and rang the doorbell. However, Gilgamesh didn't answer the door. It didn't even seem like anyone was home. The house looked shockingly dark.

"… Well, that's odd," Bartz thought out loud. He soon started banging on the door. "YO, GILGAMESH! GRUB'S UP!"

Sora cocked his head. "Uh, Bartz, you sure he's here?"

"Well, he's not at the table, and we just came from the stables. Where else would he be?" Bartz felt the instinctive need to grab his Crystal, but quickly shook the feeling off. _"No, no. He probably just took a nap and lost track of time. Don't think like that."_

_"Bartz! Zidane! Vaan!"_ a familiar voice called to them in their minds. Cosmos. _"A Warrior of Chaos has Awakened!"_ That's when Bartz's fears were realized. He shot a look to the others, and they knew what to do.

"Alright, Sora, Roxas. Don't tell your parents what you're about to see," Zidane said as he pulled out a small, metal rod.

"What are you-" Sora asked until he saw Zidane start picking the lock. "ZIDANE, YOU CAN'T DO THAT! It's against the law!"

Vaan put his hands on Sora and Roxas's shoulders. "Don't worry. We actually have a very good reason to do this."

"Besides," Zidane said while trying to pick the lock. "We'll buy him a new one." He heard the lock click. "Ah, got it!"

As soon as Zidane threw the door open, Bartz, Zidane, and Vaan had to cover their noses from the stench of Chaos coming from inside the house. The living room, if you could call it that, was covered in a strange assortment of knick-knacks that Gilgamesh had collected over the years. A tiki acted as a coat rack while a small beer keck acted as a foot rest. On top of an old apple crate sat an even older TV. It was a wonder how it still worked after all these years. Atop his fireplace mantle sat various baseball collectables, though, unbeknownst to Gilgamesh, many of the supposed treasures were actually fake.

Bartz coughed as he tried to breathe through the smell of brimstone permeating the air. "Ugh, yep, it was _definitely_ Gilgamesh."

Zidane, perhaps in a bit of a melo-dramatic fit, exclaimed, "SOMEONE OPEN A WINDOW, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" Vaan was too busy chocking on the stench to talk.

Sora and Roxas just looked at them funny. "Guys, what are you talking about?" they asked in unison.

Bartz looked back at them. "… You can't smell that?" he asked, though it was partially muffled from the hands over his mouth.

"Smell… what?" Sora asked.

Now Bartz was confused. Normally, when people are close to Chaos energy, they revert to being Manikins, but Sora and Roxas were fine. However, they couldn't hear Cosmos or smell the Chaos which meant they didn't participate in the war. That could only mean they had to be people at least one of the Warriors of either side knew. However, from what they remember, no one ever mentioned anyone that remotely resembled Sora or Roxas. How did they exist, then?

That was a question left for another time. They had to find the crack to the other world that Gilgamesh fell through upon Awakening.

Roxas, exasperated, shouted, "Okay, what's going on? I _demand_ answers."

After getting some much-needed fresh air from a near-by window, Zidane finally answered, "Remember when I told you we couldn't leave?"

"Uh-huh…"

"This is what I was talking about."

Vaan managed to pull out his Crystal and see the crack in the hallway. Still unable to talk, he coughed and pointed in the direction of the crack, which Bartz pounced on like a cheetah having chased down its prey. Slamming his Crystal into the crack, the crack opened wider until the room was filled with the strange, purple light. Sora and Roxas looked on in awe as the three brothers made their way in, Bartz first, then Vaan. Before Zidane jumped in, he turned back to them.

"Don't follow us," he ordered, and then jumped in after his brothers.

Sora and Roxas looked at each other. They grinned at each other, knowing what the other was thinking.

"Sorry, Zidane, but…" Roxas stared.

"… This looks like too much fun to pass up!" Sora finished.

The two were soon diving into the crack after their cousins. As they passed through the tunnel, the blue and whites soon turned to oranges and reds as the light at the other end grew closer…

(-)

** Yup, Sora and Roxas are the new guys. Before you ask, they are not Awakening. I have something else planned for them.**

** I had a hard time choosing between Roxas or Ventus being Sora's twin brother, especially since Terra and Aqua are their parents. I ultimately decided on Roxas since Ventus is just a little too similar in personality to Sora. Besides, the sibling rivalry is fun to write, and that dynamic doesn't really exist between Bartz, Vaan, and Zidane, or at least not on the same level as it does with Sora and Roxas.**

** Next Chapter: The Legendary Gilgamesh returns and seeks that fated duel with his chosen rival! Sora and Roxas sneak a peek at the world beyond the one they know and discover some hidden secrets within!**


	19. Return of a Legend!

**Oh, I forgot to mention this last chapter, but the reason why Sora and Roxas are Bartz's cousins is because, sometime during my writing hiatus, I had an epiphany. I believe in the Kingdom Hearts universe, Sora is actually Bartz's son. Think about it. It makes a scary amount of sense. They somewhat resemble each other. They are both associated with the wind. Both are happy-go-lucky. Both are Warriors of Light. Both have a thing for the person associated with water (or at least it's probable in Bartz's case. He doesn't have a canon relationship, although he does have a descendant… if you believe the continuity of that one Final Fantasy movie). And, well, Sora and Roxas aren't really complete without each other, so they both make it in.**

(-)

"_Legends are often exaggerated to the point one can't tell fact from fiction."_

(-)

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

It was the first thing that Sora and Roxas heard when the tunnel unceremoniously spat them out in the Elven Snowfields. Getting up out of the snow, they started to shiver as they could see their breath. They felt chilled to the bones, but they were also rather excited. They don't get to see snow every day. Still, the voice that boomed in laughter belonged to a man in a red hood who had an… interesting choice in makeup – white face paint with red stripes. Roxas guessed it was supposed to make him look more intimidating, but the rest of the outfit seemed to counter his face. He wore gray armor with gold trim partially obscured by multi-colored cloths, polka-dot pants… It was like he dressed himself before the invention of mirrors! Looking around, Roxas soon noticed their cousins… or at least they looked like their cousins. He was pretty sure Zidane didn't have a tail.

Sora cocked his head when looking at Gilgamesh. "Who's this cook?"

"Haven't a clue," responded Roxas shaking his head.

Having heard a thud in the snow behind them, the Bartz, Vaan, and Zidane turned around and instantly sighed.

"I told you guys not to follow us!" Zidane scolded.

"BARTZ! MY ETERNAL RIVAL!"

"Hi, Gilga-ACK!" Bartz sighed before he was soon getting the air squeezed out of him by the large hug Gilgamesh had him in. "MY LUNGS!"

"It has been faaaar too long, my old friend!"

"Right now…" he coughed. "I'm thinking not long enough…"

Looking over Bartz's shoulder, he soon noticed two of his other old friends. Before Vaan and Zidane could escape, they were caught in the same rib-crushing embrace as Bartz was.

"I never imagined I would see so many of my old friends again! Not since that time!" Gilgamesh was so happy, he started crying.

"Yeah… Rapture…" Zidane wheezed.

"I haven't been this thrilled since the last time I went to the dentist…" Vaan added.

When Gilgamesh was satisfied, he let go of their embrace, dropping the three in the snow with a thud. They were soon wheezing on the ground to try and refill their lungs with precious oxygen. As they were recovering from Gilgamesh's bone-crushing hug, he went over to inspect their new guests. Sora and Roxas looked up as the towering figure of Giglamesh loomed over them. Suddenly, they regretted their decision to ignore Zidane's order…

Gilgamesh eyes them with a suspicious and pensive look on his face. "… Hm…"

"… 'Hm'?" Sora mimicked.

"… Who are you?" he finally asked having determined he never saw them before.

Sora and Roxas caught a quick glimpse at each other, and then back at Gilgamesh. They started moving their hands in front of their faces in a circular motion chanting, "We are merely figments of your imagination…"

"Wow, even Gilgamesh doesn't know who they are?" Bartz managed to say in between coughs.

"'Gilgamesh'?" Sora repeated in a questioning tone. "Like, Uncle Gilgamesh?"

"Uncle?" Gilgamesh billowed another one of his hearty laughs. "That's rich!"

Having recovered his breath, Bartz got up and got between Gilgamesh and the twins. "Uh, Gilgamesh, can you give me a moment?"

"Certainly! I've already waited a long time for our glorious rematch! It can wait a few more minutes!"

Roxas crossed his arms in annoyance. "Okay, Bartz. What's going on? This guy claims to be Gilgamesh, but he's clearly _not_ Gilgamesh."

"Yeah, and what's up with your clothes?" Sora added.

"Ah, but he _is_ Gilgamesh," Bartz answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "He's just not the Gilgamesh _you_ remember. Right now, he's the Gilgamesh the other-me remembers."

"'Other you'?" they repeted.

"Yes," Bartz sighed. "The other-me that dresses like this."

Roxas had a look of utter disbelief. "… Why?"

"Because the clothes are magic, okay?" he answered, clearly annoyed. It wasn't like Bartz _liked_ dressing in a way that had the others mistake him for a girl when they first met. That was a really awkward conversation he had with Tidus (Zidane said he could tell the difference when they first met because he knew someone who could make a much more convincing girl. When he met Kuja, Bartz instantly knew that's who Zidane meant.). "Well, not the clothes themselves, but close enough."

"Huh…" Sora started. "… I didn't think super-powers worked like that…"

"Why else would we dress like this?"

Roxas facepalmed. "TV quotes aside, really?"

"Really." Bartz turned back toward Zidane and Vaan. "Hey, guys, can you take them back to the Sanctuary?"

"Huh? You don't want our help?" Zidane answered.

"Nah, it's Gilgamesh. It wouldn't be right if it wasn't one-on-one."

"For that is a true man's fight!" Gilgamesh proudly proclaimed.

"Sanctuary?" Roxas repeated.

"You'll see."

Vaan and Zidane were soon running up to Sora and Roxas, leading them away from Bartz and Gilgamesh. The pair shot worried looks back at their cousin who gave them a thumbs-up sign in hopes of putting their worries to rest.

Zidane shoved Roxas a little harder. "Don't worry! Bartz'll be fine!"

"Trust us! Gilgamesh won't know what hit him!" Vaan reassured. "We should probably hurry if we want to get out of this cold, anyway."

Zidane sighed. "Sucks we can't teleport outside of the Gates without using the Teleport Stone, and we can only do that _after_ we beat the Chaos warrior inside."

"We should probably think of making some doors around here…" Vaan joked.

With his brothers moving out of sight, Bartz turned his attention back to Gilgamesh. "Alright, Gilgamesh, where were going to do this?" he asked as he cracked his knuckles and neck.

Gilgamesh pondered for a moment. "Ah-ha! I know the perfect location! A place where there are no distractions! A place where there is only a long hall and a straight line toward our next battle!"

Bartz cocked his head. "… Cocoon?"

"Yes!" he blurted before he fully realized what Bartz said. "Wait, what? NO!"

"Spiria, then?" Bartz shrugged.

"I was talking about the Phantom Train!"

"Oooooooh, that was going to be my next guess."

Gilgamesh pointed in the general direction of one of the Gates. "COME! WE'RE OFF!"

"LET'S FIGHT, LIKE MEN!" Bartz shouted in his decent impersonation of Gilgamesh.

(-)

"ACHOO!" Sora sneezed as his teeth clattered from his shivering body. As if they already weren't ill-prepared enough for the weather where the portal spat them out at, a snowstorm blew in making visibility practically zilch and the temperature extremely cold.

"Are we almost there?" Roxas asked. His cheeks looked a little pink. His hands were red and numb. He could barely see a foot in front of him in the snowstorm.

"Yeah, we should be," Zidane answered, though he wasn't 100% considering the snowstorm was limiting his visibility. His tail was wrapped around his waist in an attempt to prevent it from freezing off. Vaan tried conjuring a small fire spell in his hands, but he wasn't nearly as skilled in magic as Terra or Bartz was. The fire fizzled before he could have used it to prevent everyone from freezing. He kept trying, but each attempt's flame was smaller and smaller leaving him more and more drained. His eyelids were getting heavy. He shook it off and slapped his cheeks to prevent himself from falling asleep. Falling asleep in this weather would have meant certain death.

Behind him, Vaan heard a thud in the snow. He instinctively took out his spear and prepared to defend himself from what he thought was a Manikin behind him only to see a golden-blond head face-down in the snow. Vaan shook him vigorously. "ZIDANE! ZIDANE! Come on, man! Wake up! You can't sleep here! ZIDANE!"

It was no use. Zidane was out like a light. Vaan picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. He was going to carry him to the Sanctuary if he had to. Before they could continue their trek, though, Sora and Roxas also fell face-first into the snow. Try as he might, it was no good. They also weren't waking up. Vaan could feel his own consciousness fading fast. The cold air stung against his face, but the snow on the ground seemed to open its arms and invite him to sleep in their folds… forever.

(-)

The duo fought inside one of the cars of the stage known as the Phantom Train, a vessel used to transport departed souls to the afterlife. It was a moderately-well-furnished car. Each window had white curtains, though they were old and tattered. The seats were made of nice wood, and the cushions were made of blue velvet. Looking out the window, one could see they were zooming past a forest, though no one ever knew if this particular train ever reached its intended destination. The two had clashed for some time as evidenced by several destroyed seats, sword marks in the wall, and various facial expressions now ingrained in the wood of the car.

"AHAHAHAHAHHA!" Gilgamesh boomed before he ran past Bartz spinning his Naginata in a circular motion, slashing him, then twice more in the back sending him flying. "IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?"

Bartz screamed as he was sent hurling into the back wall of the train, through several chairs, and straight through it into the car behind them, which, incidentally, looked just like the car he was previously in. He pulled himself out of the pile of rubble Gilgamesh's previous attack caused and spat out some blood that accumulated in his mouth. "… Hardly." He conjured Firion's axe and hurled it at Gilgamesh, only for him to dodge just enough that the axe missed.

"HA! You'll have to do better than that, Bartz!"

Bartz smirked. "Wait for it…"

Gilgamesh flashed a look of confusion before turning around to see that the axe Bartz hurled in his direction was now on a return trip. It slammed into Gilgamesh and flung him back toward Bartz. When the axe returned to Bartz's hand, the weapon changed from Firion's axe to Zidane's Mage Mashers as Bartz spun his whole body forward with the daggers slashing at Gilgamesh, followed by kicking him upward into the ceiling. Gilgamesh's head got stuck in the ceiling as he flailed his legs wildly in a futile attempt to free himself. Bartz took this as a prime opportunity to get the drop on Gilgamesh. Bartz whipped out Paladin Cecil's polearm and charged it with Holy energy. Once sufficiently charged, he prepared to slash the air when he heard Gilgamesh call out to him.

"WAIT! WAIT! TIME-OUT! TIME-OUT!" he pleaded.

Bartz sighed and dismissed his current weapon. "Gilgamesh, there's no time-outs in a duel."

"J-Just give me a minute!" he pleaded.

Bartz scratched his head. "Fine. _One_ minute," he answered holding up one finger to emphasize the fact, though Gilgamesh couldn't see it anyway.

"That's all I'll need!" Gilgamesh started gathering energy and the floating EX force that had accumulated from their battle. When Bartz noticed the EX force flying toward Gilgamesh, he immediately regretted his decision to take a small break. Gilgamesh soon sprouted two… four… six more arms as his form changed into his more monstrous true form. He shed most of his previous armor to expose his gray skin underneath and to make room for his extra arms. Red, samurai-like armor covered his upper-chest, while his lower half had an Egyptian-like loin-cloth with blue leggings underneath gold armor. His face was covered by a samurai warlord's helmet with a long, flowing tail. He used his extra arms to destroy the ceiling he was stuck in and landed on the floor beneath him, shaking the entire car, causing Bartz to fall back on his rump.

Bartz was now mentally kicking himself. "DAMNIT! You'd think by now I'd learn!"

Gilgamesh gave another one of his hearty laughs as his arms each now carried all of his available weapons: The red-bladed Excalibur, the blue-bladed Excalibur-ripoff, Exclaipoor, the Battle Axe, the Naginata, the katana Masamune (that only resembled Sephiroth's trademark sword. It was too short), the Genji Blade (Bartz made a mental note to steal that later), Odin's trademark sword, the Zantetsuken (though it looked totally different from Lightning's version of the sword), and the Chicken Knife, the counterpart to Bartz's own Brave Blade. Now back on solid ground, Gilgamesh jumped high into the air and through the hole in the ceiling he just made.

Bartz watched as he flew into the air. "… Oh, crap, here we go…" He mentally counted to three, then flipped backward as Gilgamesh came crashing back in through the ceiling intending to Jump on him and impale him with any of his weapons. Before the dust could settle from his crazy attack, Gilgamesh quickly poked the air with his many weapons, catching Bartz off-guard, then flinging to the right and out a window. The train whizzed by as the ground began to catch up to him. Thinking fast, he conjured Firion's rope-daggers from his boots and chucked them into a window. They firmly planted themselves into the ceiling of the car and stopped Bartz's bone-crushing descent when the rope went tight. He breathed a sigh of relief, but he was now dangling outside of the train by his ankles. Gilgamesh poked his head out the broken window he had previously flung Bartz through.

"Bartz, what are you doing?"

Bartz shrugged. "Oh, you know… Hanging out…" he joked, though it was difficult to keep his concentration on the daggers in his current condition. Not only did he really not know the attack that well, his vertigo was beginning to take effect. Sure, he wasn't really _that_ high off the ground, but flying past it at the speed he was going at? Yeah, he would have been Bartz-pancakes if the daggers disappeared.

Gilgamesh ran into the car that Bartz was precariously dangling outside of. He looked into the ceiling to see the daggers barely holding their position, and the rope beginning to fray. Gilgamesh used his many arms to grab the rope. Bartz's heart sank. He was now literally hanging by a thread and a prayer. If Gilgamesh wanted, he could let Bartz go and win the ultimate battle against his rival. He flinched, bracing for the inevitable impact with the hard, unforgiving ground.

"BARTZ! GRAB MY HAND!"

Bartz looked up to see two of Gilgamesh's eight arms were reaching out toward him while the other arms were busy reeling him in. Bartz struggled to contort his body to grab the waiting hands of his rival, further reducing his concentration. The rope began to weaken as Gilgamesh struggled to keep a firm grip on the rope. Bartz gave it one last, big twist and grabbed Gilgamesh's hands right before the rope finally broke and disappeared. Now with the rest of Gilgamesh's hands free, they all grabbed Bartz and pulled him into the train car. The two sat on the nearest seat and breathed heavily, exhausted from the stress.

"Th-Thanks, Gilgamesh," Bartz stuttered between gasps. "Wh-Why did you…?"

"Heh… It wouldn't have been very sporty… for our rivalry to end there," he answered. "That's not what a legend… is made of." He got up and gestured Bartz to follow. "Come! We'll finish this like a man should: Your strongest blade against mine!"

"Alright… You're on!"

The two climbed onto the roof of the car they were on. The wind rushed by them at break-neck speeds, causing any loose article of clothing to flap wildly in every-which way. At the end of the car closest to the train, Bartz stood with his personal sword, the red Brave Blade, at the ready in a two-handed grip. Gilgamesh stood at the end of the car closest to the caboose with his Excalibur prepared to attack. The two starred each other down, waiting for a sign, the moment to strike.

The seconds seemed to stretch into hours with neither batting an eyelash. They were two statues atop the train waiting for the other to make his move. Suddenly, Gilgamesh charged! Screaming, he ran down the ceiling, causing Bartz to do the same. Before they met in the middle, they leaped and slashed through each other, landing in a kneeling position with their backs against each other. For a moment, the world was still as it seemed neither side was victorious. That was, until, Bartz doubled-over in pain from the open wound on his right side. His once sky-blue shirt was now stained a brownish-red as he gasped for air.

Gilgamesh smirked. "Bartz… that was… truly a battle… legends are made from…" he managed to say before he fell face-down from the slash across his torso from Bartz's blade. Bartz dragged his bleeding body, still clutching his side, over toward Gilgamesh.

"S-Sorry, old friend…" Bartz grunted, picking up the unconscious giant while trying to heal them both. "We've got a dinner to eat."

(-)

Bartz, carrying an unconscious Gilgamesh, emerged through the Gate that Bartz had opened once he was victorious against Gilgamesh. Cosmos turned when she sensed the Gate open into her realm. Bartz placed Gilgamesh carefully down as close as he could to Cosmos's throne. Cosmos walked over to greet him.

"Welcome back, my Warrior," Cosmos greeted, handing Bartz a green-and-teal bottle.

"Ugh, thanks…" Bartz took the Potion and began applying it on his wound while sparing some for Gilgamesh. When it was closed, he managed to get a better look around. "… Hey, where are the others?"

"Others?" Cosmos repeated.

"Yeah, Zidane and Vaan should have been here by now, along with my cousins."

"Bartz, you are the first person to appear at my Sanctuary today."

"What? But that's-" Bartz began to panic. "Cosmos! Please! Open a channel with my brothers!"

Cosmos nodded. "Very well." The water that flowed in the Sanctuary bubbled and formed two viewing globes. The picture inside showed the fierce snowstorm blowing that the others had gotten themselves lost in, but it didn't show Vaan or Zidane themselves, or so Bartz thought. When he looked closer, he soon noticed Zidane's golden-blond hair barely peeking out from under the snow. Looking closer in Vaan's globe, he soon also saw Vaan unconscious in the snow.

"ZIDANE! VAAN! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" he shouted futilely into the globes. The globes began to bubble. "COSMOS, DON'T LOSE THEM, PLEASE!"

"Forgive me… Bartz… The connection is weakening…" she struggled to keep the globes together as long as she could, but it soon began to collapse. Before it did though, Bartz could make out a blue, crystalline figure looming over his brothers…

(-)

**Uh oh! Out of the frying pan and into the snowstorm!**

**Next chapter: Desperate rescue mission! Bartz braves the wind and cold to find his family, but someone else finds them first…**


	20. The Twin's Resolve

**Okay, now you'll see what the KH twins' purpose is.**

**I really want to get this arc out of the way since the next arc (the holiday arc) I am really excited to write.**

(-)

"_Your heart is the greatest weapon of all."_

(-)

Bartz was frantic. What was left of his broken family was probably freezing to death in another world that people would think he was crazy if he tried to tell them what happened, or, worse yet, blame _him_ for what happened… And, that wasn't even to mention the Manikins that had probably found them first. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. He just needed to find them and find them okay. He prepared to run back out into the fields to search for them when he felt Cosmos's hand on his shoulder.

"Bartz, calm down!"

Bartz was entering full-on panic-mode. "I-I can't! I need- I need to go! I have to find them! I have to-"

"Bartz," Cosmos spoke as calmly as she could. "If you head out there now, you will only freeze as well."

"Y-Yeah, but-" He fell to his knees. The tears forced their way out of his eyes. His whole body shook. He just did not know what to do.

Cosmos kneeled down as well and placed her hand on his shoulder again. "Bartz… Do you have some way to protect yourself from the cold? Do you have some way to safely traverse the snow?"

He suddenly remembered: His dad had gear for all sorts of weather conditions. It was a must as an archeologist. Not only that, but white chocobo, like Ivory, barely fazed by ice and snow with their thick coat of feathers and strong legs. As he wiped the tears and mucus from his face, he looked up at Cosmos with his shimmering caramel eyes and smiled.

"T-Thanks, Cosmos," he stuttered through the hiccups. He got up and conjured the pearly-white Gates that lead to his own world. "I'll be right back."

She nodded. "I shall synch time with your world in the meantime. Do hurry."

Bartz gave a thumbs-up before he entered the doors.

(-)

"… _That smell… Hot chocolate?"_

As Sora began to regain consciousness, he soon noticed he felt a blanket wrapped around his body. As he opened his deep, blue eyes, he noticed a roaring fire some feet in front of his face. Sora grunted as he tried to get up, but the most he could manage was sitting up.

Sora found a white mug that was made out of stone not too far from where he was sleeping. Sora took the mug since he figured it was the hot chocolate he could smell. When he looked inside, however, the liquid looked… mint-green. Sora looked at the liquid and gave a look that practically said, "Okay, what the hell is this?"

He sniffed the steam being emitted by the strange liquid. It really did smell just like the hot chocolate his mom would always make whenever Sora asked for it even though it never really got that cold on the islands. He just liked the taste of it. Well, the cup was warm, and he was cold. What could it hurt? Sora wrinkled his nose and forced the strange liquid down his throat.

Sora couldn't believe it! It really did taste just like the hot chocolate his mom made, marshmallows and all. It was weird, but it really hit the spot and began to warm his core. After the initial gulp, Sora welcomed the drink more readily as it warmed him up. Once he was a bit more alert, he took a moment to get a better look at where he was. It seemed to be a cave made out of snow… maybe an igloo, though bigger. He soon noticed the sleeping bodies of his cousins and brother and grew worried. He wrapped his blanket up around him like a loose cloak and walked over to where Roxas was sleeping. He began to gently shake him awake. Roxas grumbled but slowly woke. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and shivered. Sora began shoving the white mug in Roxas's still half-asleep face.

"Dude!" Sora started. "This drink tastes exactly like hot chocolate!"

Roxas groggily grabbed the white mug that Sora practically shoved into his lap. It felt nice having something that warm in his hands, though it didn't exactly look like hot chocolate. When Roxas sniffed the drink, it didn't really _smell_ like hot chocolate to Roxas either.

"Sora, I don't know what drugs you're on, but this isn't hot chocolate," Roxas said looking at him with disbelief.

"I know it doesn't look like hot chocolate, but trust me! Drink!" Not that Sora gave Roxas much choice since Sora practically shoved it down Roxas's throat. Roxas soon coughed up the drink as it tried to go down the wrong pipes. In-between coughs, Roxas managed to chock out, "What the heck, Sora?" After a few more coughs, Roxas then realized that the strange liquid tasted familiar to him. "… Wait, I thought you said it was hot chocolate."

"Yeah, why?"

"It tasted like hot milk to me."

"What, really?" Sora took another gulp. "... Yup, it definitely tastes like hot chocolate to me."

"… Weird."

Roxas soon noticed a similar, stone mug not too far from where he was sleeping. It, too, was full of that strange mint-green liquid that tasted like hot chocolate to Sora and warm milk to Roxas. Roxas was curious as to how that liquid worked. He tried looking at the mug at various angles in hopes that maybe it would divulge whatever secrets it had but no dice. Roxas was still as clueless as before. It always bugged him when there was a question he had that he just could not find an answer to. He just hated to be out of the loop.

Sora picked himself up and went to go wake his cousins when he noticed a PDA by Vaan, or, at least, it _looked_ like a PDA. Sora picked up the device to get a better look at it. It looked more like a cross between a PDA and an iPad. There was a single button at the bottom of what looked like a giant touch screen. Sora was soon running back toward Roxas.

"Hey, Roxas!" Sora shouted, waving the device around. "Check out what I found!"

"What is it?" Roxas asked as Sora sat back down next to him.

Sora shrugged. "I dunno, but it's mine now!"

Roxas rolled his eyes as Sora pressed the single button beneath the touch screen. The device soon lit up and projected a green hologram.

In a clearly synthesized voice, the device boomed, "STATE YOUR NAME, PLEASE."

The twins shrugged and did as they were instructed.

"Sora-"

"-Roxas"

"_Klauser_," they answered together.

The device seemed to process the information it received for a moment before it whirred into action once again. "'KLAUSER.' KEY WORD RECOGNIZED. SCANNING-"

"'Scanning'?" the twins repeated.

Suddenly, the device shot out a blue laser at the two, moving up and down their bodies. Processing the information it collected, the device went silent for a moment until it, once again, lit up.

"BARTZ KLAUSER DNA DETECTED. BEGINNING TRANSMITION."

Before the twins had time to react, the device shot out a red beam straight into their foreheads, and the room soon began to fade…

(-)

Bartz emerged from the golden-gilded doors that lead to Cosmos's realm back in Gilgamesh's guest house. Gilgamesh, soon, poofed in himself, back to normal and zonked on his couch. Bartz smiled for a moment before he put his business face back on. He didn't bother to revert to normal. He needed to move as fast and as stealthily as he could. He job-shifted to Ninja and equipped Time Magic as a sub-job. As a ninja, he wore light, blue armor with golden trim and a navy-blue face mask. He first cast Haste on himself as he darted toward the main house. He stealthily climbed up the siding toward his father's room and climbed in his window. The room's walls were littered with pictures from his many travels, but his nightstand contained his most important pictures: A picture of himself, his wife, and his first two sons, and the same picture that Reks kept in his own room of himself, Reks, and the three brothers. Bartz took a moment to smile at how wonderful those times were, but he didn't have time to reminisce. He raided his father's closet for his old tundra exploration gear, a thick, heavy, white jacket, heavy snow-pants, snow goggles, large boots, snow shoes, and ice picks, just in case. He soon stuffed them in his mysterious inventory for when he would need them later.

When he was finished, he quickly left the same way he came and darted toward the stables. He was soon at Ivory's stall and slid the door open. When Ivory saw the unfamiliar person at the entrance, she started warking in protest and panic.

To calm her down, Bartz threw off his helmet and lowered his mask. "Ivory! Ivory! It's okay! It's me!"

When Ivory saw her familiar master, she moved in closer to get a better look. When she determined that this man really was Bartz, she soon began to kweh as she rubbed her face against his. He stroked her cheeks.

"Yes, yes, I'm happy to see you, too," he chuckled.

He quickly rigged Ivory up for riding and hopped aboard. He presented his crystal to Ivory's stable doors, and they reacted like the others to create the gleaming white Gates with golden accents. Ivory was started and started warking again, but Bartz soon calmed her down with a few easy-girls and gentle strokes on her neck.

Back inside of Cosmos's Sanctuary, the Gates closed and disappeared behind him. He dismounted Ivory and began to dress himself for the extreme conditions of the Elven Snowfields with the winter gear he borrowed from his father. He wore it all over his normal mime outfit just in case he needed to use his abilities while out in the snowstorm.

While Bartz was doing that, Cosmos walked over to the bird, genuinely curious. Ivory was a little cautious at first but, after sensing no ill-will, allowed Cosmos to stroke her neck.

"Bartz, is this the 'chocobo,' you've told me so much about?" she asked.

"Ah, yeah!" he affirmed while strapping up the giant snow boots. After he was all rigged up, he dusted himself off. "You've never seen a chocobo before?" Cosmos shook her head. When Bartz went to remount Ivory, she backed away to give Bartz room. "Well," he began. "I guess I'll need to bring some more of them here for you to see! Maybe even teach you how to ride."

"I would like that."

Bartz flashed a large grin, then, using his crystal, conjured a warp crystal in the Sanctuary. He touched it, thinking of the Snowfields, and disappeared in a flash of light, teleporting to the crystal in the Snowfields. Before he faded completely, he gave Cosmos another thumbs-up sign in hopes of reassuring her that everything will be alright.

(-)

When Sora and Roxas became aware of their surroundings again, they soon noticed that they were standing on a large, circular, white platform inside of a large, circular room. The walls seemed to have been made of water as they continued to flow upwards unnaturally against the flow of gravity. Behind them, there were a large set of white doors, and, in front of them, a staircase that lead down to a lone, rather pitiful looking computer. Roxas investigated the doors only to realize they had no handles or doorknobs. Sora's curiosity got the better of him and went to check the computer. It was a black and rather run-down looking. Sora couldn't really see a keyboard or a mouse or even a power switch to power up the darn thing. Sora knocked on the glass of the screen twice then shrugged his shoulders when it didn't seem like it would do anything. However, the computer soon sprang to life! The screen turned bright green as it ran through the processes to start. Sora stood in awe of it, staring at the big, green screen with his big, blue eyes. When Roxas noticed Sora had done something, he started running over to smack him upside the head for touching things he probably ought not to be touching, when four, white, vaguely-keyhole-shaped doors on the upper level flashed into existence behind the computer.

"Sora!" Roxas shouted in an obviously annoyed and scolding tone.

"I DIDN'T DO IT, I SWEAR!" he lied.

The computer, after finishing its boot-up, soon began to play a recorded video message. An older looking man with hair of silver-white was displayed on the screen. The back of his hair was tied in a loose ponytail at his neck, and he wore a white lab coat. The look in his gray eyes showed wisdom, fatigue, and a hint of regret. He began to spoke.

"_Greetings, Warrior. I am Cid of the Lufaine. Where you are now is actually a projection of the contents of my journal directly into your minds."_

Sora and Roxas began to panic. _"Into our minds?"_ they thought. _"How is it possible?"_

Cid of the Lufaine seemed to anticipate their reactions and continued. _"Worry not, Warrior. You are perfectly fine. I write these thoughts down today in hope that, one day, one of you would have found them. In doing so, I would hope that, one day, my sins could be understood… maybe even forgiven. But, for now, they are locked away in the four doors you see before you."_

Roxas grunted and folded his arms. "Oh, _that's_ convenient."

"_Do not complain,"_ he began, again, probably anticipating his audience's reactions. _"Knowledge given freely is useless. It is only when you understand that knowledge is when you learn."_ The first door on the left lit up and faded away, leading into complete blackness. _"If you wish to understand, you must struggle. If you wish to struggle, proceed through the door."_

Sora turned to Roxas. "… Should we?"

"We're here," Roxas shrugged. "Might as well."

The duo walked up to the now-missing doorway. They gazed inside of the door in hopes of seeing whatever lied inside the room, though the door itself didn't appear to be connected to any sort of room. Sora shrugged and decided to dive in, quite literally. After Sora jumped in, Roxas contemplated for a moment leaving him there but ultimately decided that Sora would probably get himself killed and walked in as well.

(-)

"Damn… Where are they?" Bartz thought out loud to himself.

He shouted their names in any and all directions, but the storm was so fierce, he could barely hear himself. He doubted the others could hear him in this… conscious or no. To top it all off, there was the matter of what Bartz could have sworn was a Manikin…

"No, NO!" he scolded himself for thinking, shaking his head. "They're alive! They have to be!" Bartz looked up to the sky. _"Cosmos, anything?"_ he asked through their mental link.

She mentally sighed. _"I am afraid not, Bartz."_ His grip on the reigns tightened. _"I shall keep trying, though."_

Bartz had been searching in the snow for quite some time. Though he was well-bundled, the cold was starting to take hold. The chocobo seemed to be suffering as well. They would not be able to keep this up for long… Bartz began to fear he would face the same fate.

Soon, on the edge of his vision, he could make out a figure in the distance. It was difficult to tell what it was because of the storm, so he moved in for a closer look. When he got closer, he soon noticed it was Manikin, a crystal-blue figure with long, tall horns that vaguely resembled the nameless Warrior. Bartz dismounted Ivory and drew his Brave Blade. He was going to cut it down before it had a chance to act. The Manikin, sensing one of its designated enemies, raised its crystal-blue sword and crystal-blue shield, as if preparing to attack. The grip on Bartz's sword tightened as he charged, hoping to get the first strike, when, unexpectedly, the Manikin turned around. The Maninkin pointed its sword out in the distance, exposing its back to Bartz. Bartz stopped himself before he sliced the Manikin in two.

"_Well, that's… unusual,"_ he thought. _"I've never seen a Manikin do that."_

He thought for a moment. "Hey, Manikin." The Maninkin turned what constituted as its head toward Bartz. "Are you pointing somewhere?" It nodded yes in response. "Can you lead me there?" It, again, nodded yes in response. "Alright…" He dismissed his sword and remounted Ivory. "Take me."

The Manikin began to walk off in the direction it pointed earlier, crystalline-parts scrapping parts scrapping against each other with each step as Bartz struggled to keep it in his field of vision.

(-)

On the other side of the door that the twins entered, they found themselves inside of a cave. The ground seemed cracked and rotted, and the ceiling had numerous stalagmites hanging downward, one of which seemed to be dripping water. In the middle of the cave sat a rather large crater that seemed to glow adding a rater eerie light to this already eerie place.

"This place just gets stranger and stranger…" Sora remarked.

"_SHEH-SHEH-SHEH…"_

Suddenly, skeletal hands erupted from the ground, many still having bits of flesh and rusted armor attached to their ghastly limbs, as the now undead skeletons pulled themselves from the ground. The duo shrieked and jumped back in surprise and terror.

"R-Roxas?" he stammered.

"Y-Yeah, Sora?" he stuttered back.

"I s-see dead people!" he spoke barely above a whisper. Sora grabbed Roxas's shoulders. "WHY DO I SEE DEAD PEOPLE?"

Roxas shoved Sora off of him. "Hey! Let go!"

The zombies hobbled their way over to the duo smelling something awful with flesh dripping off of their carcasses with each step. Even if this was just a projection into their mind, it sure did feel pretty damn real. Sora and Roxas felt sick to their core.

"L-Let's get out of here!" Sora screamed.

"Right behind you!" Roxas agreed.

The two looked for the door they entered through to no avail. It was gone. It was just them and the hoard of zombies making their way toward them.

Roxas began to cry. "S-Sora … We… We're going to die here, aren't we?"

"No. No!" Sora shouted, trying his best to remain brave. "We can't! This is just a simulation, right? Right?"

"_If you believe this is real, humanssssss…"_ a voice outside of their field of vision hissed. _"Even just a little… Then it is real."_

"W-Who's there?" the two demanded, though part of them wished not to know.

The owner of the voice entered the light. _"I am the Lich,"_ it answered. _"One of the four fiends of Chaossss… The fiend who feeds on the Earth and rots the land."_

It was another grotesque skeleton, perhaps more-so than the rest. Its tattered, royal-purple cloak barely covered his decomposed body. It wore a wide variety of jewels around his bony neck and skeletal fingers. Its horned helmet gave it the appearance of a warlord, but the most striking feature was its eyes: sunken, yellow globes inside of its eye-sockets where its regular eyes once rested. Spirits of the damned seemed to circle it while others were cast off and sent into the ground, searching for another skeleton to add to their ranks.

It stretched one of its skeletal claws at the duo and gave what would probably constitute as a laugh: its bones rattled in a manner that made the duo squirm with displeasure. _"I can sense your fear… Your fear of death… It feeds me… It nourishes me… It _satisfies_ me… Yes… Accept your ignorance and your end… I shall show you mercy by making it swift."_

Sora struggled for air. He couldn't feel his lungs move. He began to get dizzy as the zombies moved ever closer still. He was mentally cursing himself for this. _"Why didn't I listen? They told me to stay back, and I ignored them! I was always told that my curiosity would get me killed… but not Roxas too! Thi.. This is my fault!"_ Sora fell to his knees and cried. "Roxas… I'm so sorry."

Roxas placed his hand on Sora's shoulder. "S-Sora, this isn't your fault. I jumped in, too."

"_I see that you are ready, humansssssss,"_ the thing hissed, satisfied. _"Very well. Die in your ignorance!"_

"… _He said that again…"_ Sora thought. _" 'Ignorance'… Wait… didn't Cid tell us we needed to struggle to learn?"_ Sora looked up at the ceiling. "The stalactites…"

"Huh?" Roxas asked.

"The stalactites!" Sora answered. "Maybe, we're not quite dead yet!"

"Sora, what are you-"

Sora was soon back on his feet. "Follow my lead!" Sora charged and football-tackled one of the zombies knocking the head off its poorly-held together skeleton. Grabbing the skull by its eye sockets, he flung it at the stalactites. The skull collided with one and disintegrated. However, it seemed to be enough to knock the stalactite loose as it fell onto the ground below. Sora dodged out of the way as the stalactite impaled and crushed the zombies unfortunate enough to be caught in its path toward the ground.

Roxas stared in awe. "Sora! How'd you do that?"

Sora rubbed his nose. "Well, if this is happening in our minds, if we want to do something bad enough, shouldn't we be able to do it?" Sora turned his attention back toward the zombies. "And, right now, I really badly _want_ to live."

The ghastly skeletal king spat, clearly annoyed that they chose to struggle rather than perish. It sent even more of its power into the earth, summoning countless numbers of the undead. Sora remained undaunted however.

"Not only that…" Sora continued, holding his hand in front of him. As if listening to his will, a weapon flashed into existence: a strange looking weapon that had a yellow guard, a gray "blade" and blue hilt with a long keychain that had a Hidden Mickey at the end. To Roxas, it looked almost like a giant key. "I really badly want to _fight_."

(-)

**Well, this chapter got a little longer than I anticipated. Yes, this is what the twins are doing. They're running through Cid's Journal a-la Coded. (although I actually haven't played that one. :B)**

** Next time: Sora and Roxas face the Lich deep within the digital confines of Cid's journal. Will the two be able to unlock the secrets contained within? Find out!**


	21. A Happy Thanksgiving

**Quick note: I don't own Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and any other product placement in this chapter.**

"_You cannot know until you understand."_

(-)

Vaan could feel the warmth of the fire permeate his body. His limbs didn't feel as stiff anymore nor did he feel all that sleepy. The pillow was rather soft, and the blankets were nice and thick. While he _could_ wake up, he was just too darn comfortable _to_ wake. He could just sleep here forever…

"… Wait…" he mumbled. He shot awake. When did he fall asleep in the first place? Last thing he remembered, he was out in a snowstorm **freezing to death**. He looked around the ice cave he found himself in, noting that, somehow, they were saved. He wondered if it was Bartz. "BARTZ? BARTZ? YOU HERE, BRO?"

"Ugh… quiet, you!" Zidane mumbled as he chucked his pillow in Vaan's general direction, not really caring if he hit or not. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Zidane?" Vaan picked himself up and ran to his "brother." When he noticed the familiar, blond head burying his head underneath his blankets, Vaan began to shake him awake. "Come on, bro. Wake up! Don't you remember what happened?"

That's also when Zidane snapped awake when he suddenly recalled passing out in the snowstorm. His bright, blue eyes scanned their new surroundings. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he asked, "Where are we?"

Vaan shook his head. "No idea."

Zidane was soon sniffing the air when a familiar smell entered his nose. "Dude… you smell that?"

Vaan sniffed the air as well, and his mouth began to drool. "Yeah…"

"AUNT AQUA'S HOT CHOCOLATE!" they shouted excitedly together. The duo followed the scent to the mug close by Zidane's resting place. Looking inside though, they were rather confused by the mug's minty-green contents.

"… That doesn't look like hot chocolate," Vaan said, pointing out the obvious.

"… No shit."

Still, it smelled an awful lot like hot chocolate. And, Zidane was rather thirsty… and cold. Hell, what could it hurt? He drank some of the strange liquid down and felt his entire body warm from the drink. Well, that was odd. It _tasted_ like hot chocolate, but he never remembered hot chocolate doing _that_.

"… Vaan, drink some," Zidane said, giving him the mug. "Tell me if you notice something strange about it."

Vaan shrugged and did so. When the liquid ran down his throat, he felt all of his extremities warm. Flexing his hands, he felt no stiffness at all, like he was never cold in the first place.

"Yeah, I see what you mean." Vaan thought for a moment. "Zidane… I think this drink is actually a Remedy."

"Yeah," Zidane nodded. "I thought so too. I don't feel sleepy or frozen anymore." The two looked at the drink in their hands. "I don't remember it tasting like that though." The two looked over at the sleeping twins by the fire. "Guess they didn't drink theirs," Zidane joked.

The two walked over toward the twins and lightly nudged their shoulders. "Wakie-wakie, eggs-and-bakie~" Vaan chimed. No response. "Guys?" he asked, shaking them harder. When they didn't respond, Zidane and Vaan grew worried.

Zidane started shaking them, too. "Hey! Wake up! This isn't funny!"

Soon, they noticed the PDA-like device in their hands. On the screen, they could see Sora with that strange, key-like weapon in his hand starring down the Fiend of the Earth.

(-)

"S-Sora? What is that?" Roxas asked, pointing at his weapon.

Sora shrugged. "I dunno. I so badly wanted to unlock the truth and to fight; I guess this is how my mind responded." Sora entered his fighting stance which was slightly crouched with his weapon down and off to the right. He eyed the Lich fiercely. He intended to smash the bones to pieces.

The Lich hissed. _"Do not think you possess enough light to illuminate the truth, humansssssss…"_ It raised its bony-arms. The decaying earth responded by shifting and quaking, breaking apart at the seams._ "I shall end you here and now!"_ Soon, huge pillars of ice began erupting from the ground, intent to skewer Sora.

To counter, Sora thought of warmth, the warmth of his mother and father and his family sharing a bar of Sea-Salt Ice Cream on a hot, summer day. Responding to his feelings, the weapon soon began to build fire at its tip. When the energies fully collected, they shot out in a fireball, colliding with the ice pillars and melting them.

Roxas couldn't help but be impressed. "… Whoa…"

"Roxas!" Sora began to explain. "If you want it bad enough, it'll happen! Just wish for it with all your heart!" Sora then chucked his Keyblade at the Lich, conking the skeletal fiend on the skull. "How's that? Ring a few bells?"

It growled in anger and frustration. Energy began welling up in its skeletal features, and it opened its jaw. Spewing forth was a steady stream of fire from its gaping maw that created a circle of fire around Sora, cutting him off from Roxas and escape. Soon, the towering figure loomed over Sora as its beady, yellow eyes bore their way into Sora's radiant, blue ones.

"_Sleep…"_ it hissed. _"SLEEEEEEEP!"_

Sora began to feel drowsy. _"That was… odd…"_ he thought, or at least he thought he thought. He felt so drowsy, his own thoughts felt alien and foggy to his muddled brain. After a quick yawn, Sora fell forward, completely zonked. The Lich's skeletal body began to echo in and of itself, perhaps in its ghastly attempt to laugh. He picked up the unconscious mass that was Sora and began literally squeezing the life out of him.

Roxas couldn't see the battle too well; the flames obscured his vision. However, when he saw the Lich pick something up in his skeletal grasp, from the shape of the silhouette, Roxas could instantly tell it was none other than Sora. "SORA! SORA!" he cried out in vain. It was no use; Sora was out like a light. Roxas didn't know what to do. He felt so helpless… Powerless…

"… _xas…"_

"Huh?" Roxas thought he heard something.

"_Roxas!"_

Roxas looked around in a panic. "W-Who's there?"

"_Roxas, it's us, you dork."_

That voice… it was familiar. "… Zidane? Vaan? Is that you?"

"_Bingo!"_ Vaan answered.

As much as Roxas looked around, he couldn't see them. "Where are you?"

"_We're right here, ya dummie,"_ Zidane answered. _"Or at least, right next to your body, anyway."_

"H-Help us! We can't get out!" Roxas pleaded.

"_We'll try, but right now, Sora needs __**your**__ help!"_ Vaan answered.

Roxas shook his head furiously. "I-I can't do anything! Please! Just get us out of here! He'll die!"

Vaan's anger boiled over. His hands balled up into a fist and gave Roxas's face one heck of a punch. Roxas was surprised that he began to feel his cheek hurt from Vaan's fist. He rubbed the sore and swelling mark that Vaan's fist left on his face.

"_You can, too, do something!"_ Vaan scolded. _"You just have to want it more than anything else in the world!"_

"_Unless, of course…"_ Zidane continued. _"You __**want**__ Sora to die."_

Roxas's knees shook. His teeth chattered. He couldn't breathe. He never felt so terrified in all of his life. But, seeing that thing… chocking the life out of his brother… He couldn't… No, he **wouldn't** stand idly by and let it!

Roxas gathered all of the courage he could muster and charged through the flames, not noticing or out-right ignoring the flames burning his clothes and searing his flesh. When he was close enough to the Lich, he leaped… and he prayed. He wished for the means to fight, to protect himself, and to protect his brother. He wished to fight with all of his heart.

Responding to his thoughts, not one, but two of the strange, key-like weapons materialized in Roxas's hands. The one in his left hand was more angelic-themed, white with angel wings for the guard, a double-bladed shaft, the two "blades" eventually forming a heart at the tip with the teeth resembling the Japanese kanji for light, and a braided-rope keychain with a thalassa-shell charm in the shape of a star. In his right hand, there was a more dark and demonic-themed one, with bat-like wings for the guard, a purple jewel that leads to the shaft which has a chain that runs down the middle with its teeth resembling the Japanese kanji for darkness, and the keychain was a black chain that ended with a black version of Sora's favorite pendant.

The Lich barely had enough time to defend itself from Roxas's sudden attack by freeing Sora from his grip and blocking Roxas's furious strikes with his hands, but even that wasn't enough. Soon, Roxas managed to knock him down on the ground, throwing his weapons into the ground, and causing light to erupt from the ground, dousing the flames in the process. Being Undead, the light-based attacks were particularly effective against the Lich as its unholy wails of agony reverberated throughout its bones. Not that Roxas cared much, however, as he went to make sure Sora was alright. Sora began coughing as he struggled to refill his lungs with life-giving oxygen.

"I'm okay! I'm okay!" he reassured though coughs, waving Roxas off. When he got a better look at him and the two weapons, Sora was impressed. "Ah, what? You got two? … Why didn't I think of that?"

The Lich picked up his sack of bones and lurched forward, obviously in a lot of pain. Even if he was going to return to the Earth from whence he game, he was making damn sure he was taking the two of them with him. The Lich's skeletal features began to glow.

"_I know you fear me, humansssssssssss,"_ it wheezed, knowing its end was nigh. _"I know you fear Death… It is perfectly natural…"_ It extended its arm in the air, gathering the last of its energies for one last, desperate attack. The energies formed a small, orange sun that threatened to blow them all to kingdom-come.

The twins stood their ground.

"You're right," Roxas agreed. "We do fear Death."

"But…" Sora continued. "WE **WON'T** FEAR YOU!"

The twins charged feeling yet more power well up from within themselves. Sora's clothes changed from their usual black, red, and yellow attire to a more courageous red standing before a bold black, with a white-outlined flur-de-lis on his pants and jacket sleeves. In Sora's left hand, he wielded the same angelic-like weapon that Roxas wielded in his right hand. Roxas's clothes changed from beige to sky blue, and the checkered patterns were replaced with small, white angel wings.

The two furiously pounded into the Lich. It couldn't counter or defend, even if it wanted to. The strikes were too fierce, and it was too tired having put what was left of its energy into the Flare spell it was summoning. It mentally grinned, though. Even if it died, the Flare would surely take care of them. Too bad the twins wouldn't let it.

"Hey!" Sora called out from above the Lich. It looked up and, to its horror, saw the twins hanging from some of the more stable stalactites, reading themselves for their final attack. "You wanna go out with a bang?"

"We can help with that!" Roxas finished.

The two chucked their weapons at the orange mass, causing the unstable ball to plummet toward the Lich below. There was nothing it could do as it watched the surging mass of orange, explosive energy slowly fall onto it. The energy soon swallowed its body as it screamed another one of its unholy wails while the miniature star exploded, obliterating the Lich once and for all. Nothing was left of it, not even dust or ash. The only thing that remained as any indication that the Lich existed at all was a giant crater from the explosion from the Lich's own spell.

The twins jumped down as their power-up wore off, reverting to their normal clothes. Sora was somewhat disappointed that the second weapon disappeared along with them. He soon shrugged it off, though, figuring he'd get it back if he ever powered up again.

Out of the glowing crater in the room, something else began forcing itself up from the ground. The twins armed themselves in thinking it was another zombie, but relaxed slightly when they saw it was only a brown crystal. The long, brownish crystal seemed to be the source of the glow from that particular crater. The two touched the crystal and heard a voice from within. _"To ye who sought the light of Truth, I shall impart these words of knowledge…"_

(-)

Bartz continued to follow the icy phantom through the snowstorm in hopes that it was, indeed, leading him to where his family was. It seemed like he was walking through the ice storm forever. The further they traveled, it seemed the more the snow seemed to slow. Bartz figured that perhaps they were getting close to the eye of the storm. Finally, the strange Manikin stopped and pointed at what appeared to be an icy dome with its crystalline sword. Barely any snow touched down around it, and a warm glow could be seen through the ice that composed its walls.

"In there?" Bartz asked. The answer was kind of obvious, but he wanted some reassurance anyway. The Manikin nodded its crystal head, after which Bartz practically dived inside of the icy structure screaming the names of his family.

(-)

Roxas began to stir. He instinctively held his head. He felt a humongous headache building. Whether it was an effect of the journal or Sora, he wasn't entirely sure. But, when he opened his eyes, he soon saw the icy cave they first found themselves in upon waking and his two overjoyed cousins hugging him and Sora, completely unable to contain their enthusiasm.

"Welcome back!" Vaan greeted.

Zidane began wiping the tears from his bright, blue eyes. "Yeah, I really didn't need another family member in the hospital."

Sora moaned. It seemed he wasn't quite ready to wake up, yet. Too bad the air being squeezed from his lungs said otherwise.

"Okay, okay!" he whined. "I'm up! I'm up!"

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!"

The four turned their attention to the entrance to see a very heavily-bundled man run at them full-speed. Soon, he leaped and tackled the four, his hood flying off in the process. Much to everyone's relief, it was just Bartz.

"Oh, man!" Bartz started to cry he was so happy. "You're all okay… I was so worried."

"Sorry, bro," Vaan apologized.

"We didn't _mean_ to nearly die in a snowstorm," finished Zidane.

The crystal-blue Manikin was soon walking in as well, followed by Ivory, the white chocobo, witnessing the happy sight. On instinct, though, Vaan and Zidane got into battle-ready positions. Bartz grabbed their hands to stop them.

"Guys! Wait! He's cool!" he pleaded. "He led me here. I think he also saved you."

Zidane turned back toward Bartz, obviously confused. "Wait, really?" Bartz nodded. Zidane shrugged. "Never heard of a Manikin doing that." Bartz shrugged in agreement.

Sora suddenly remembered something symbolized by pounding his fist on an open palm. "OH! Bartz, you thirsty?" he asked, offering his cup of the mint-green liquid. "Drink! It's good!"

"I'll warm you right up," everyone else finished.

"Really? I could really use it," he chuckled. As soon as the liquid touched his lips, he felt a warming sensation fill his entire body. He paused for a moment, noting how peculiar that was. He soon took another sip and felt less sleepy. Still curious, he sniffed the drink a few times, then took one large swig. He slaushed the liquid in his mouth for a while, experimenting, then swallowed. He pondered for a few moments. "Where did you guys get this?" he finally asked.

"We found it when we woke up," Sora answered. "Why?"

Bartz shook his head while investigating the mug. "… Remedies aren't normally consumed. They're usually applied to the afflicted areas."

Vaan had an "ah-ha!" moment. "I KNEW IT! I knew there was something fishy about that drink!"

Roxas looked at them confused. "What's a 'remedy'?"

"It's a special medicine from the other worlds that cure things like Sleep, Poison, Freeze, Burns… All sorts of nasty stuff young heroes can face on their journey."

Roxas looked down at his mug again, sloshing the liquid around inside of it. "One drink can do all that?"

Bartz nodded. "Although, I wasn't aware it tasted like chicken noodle soup!" he giggled.

"… Wow, it tastes like soup to you?" Roxas asked. "Funny, I figured it would have tasted like hot chocolate to you."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Bartz asked, genuinely confused.

"It tasted like hot chocolate to me," Sora answered.

"Us, too," Zidane answered.

"It tasted like warm milk to me," Roxas added.

Now Bartz was _really_ confused. Not only was the drink atypical of Remedies, its taste wasn't uniform. Although…

"… I don't know if it really means anything, but I wanted some hot soup to warm up. I always like having some hot soup after I play in the snow."

"Actually, now that you mention it," Vaan started. "I wanted some hot chocolate to help me warm up myself." Zidane, Sora, and Roxas nodded in agreement, noting their drinks tasted like something they wanted.

"Huh… I wonder how…" Bartz thought out loud.

Seemingly hearing his question, the Manikin reached up for one of the crystal horns that adorned the shape that mimicked the helmet of the warrior it was based off of and broke it off. Everyone turned around when they heard the distinctive _snap_ of crystal, thinking that maybe there was another intruder, only to see the Manikin giving the horn-piece to Bartz. Bartz investigated the horn from multiple angles, trying to figure out what it meant.

"Wait, you mean this?" he asked. The Manikin nodded. "… Manikin crystal? Was that mixed with the Remedy?" The Manikin nodded again. As if to really confirm the answer, Bartz took out a spare Megalixer and pulled up his knowledge of Mixing from his Chemist class. He combined the two, and created a similar drink. Bartz took a gulp from the sky-blue liquid. It tasted like vanilla-hazelnut coffee, filing him with energy and vigor. Bartz was rather fascinated.

"Oh, man! That tastes just like Starbucks coffee!" he exclaimed. He made a mental note to collect any Manikin Crystal he can find from now on for his recipes. He passed the drink around to the rest to help the others feel fully rejuvenated. Each of them noted the different tastes: Vaan tasted root beer, Zidane tasted Coke, Sora tasted Pepsi, and Roxas tasted tea. Afterwards, Sora pulled out that PDA-like device.

"What's that?" Bartz asked.

"It's a journal, apparently," Sora answered, though still a bit skeptical.

"It was written by someone known as Cid of the Lufaine. You know him?" Roxas asked.

The three of them thought for a moment.

"Well, I know a Cid, but I don't think he's 'of the Lufaine,'" Bartz answered.

Zidane shrugged. "I know a Cid, but he's a king."

Vaan shuddered. "I know a Cid… I wish I didn't though…"

"… That bad?" Sora asked.

"You don't even _want_ to know."

Sora booted up the device. The main menu display had four menu bars, only one of which was titled. The title read, "How it all began." Curious, Sora pushed the bar on the screen, and it depressed as if it were a button. A hologram displayed showing Cid of the Lufaine in his white lab coat and loosely-tied silver locks preparing himself to recount his tales.

Bartz, Zidane, and Vaan cocked their heads and thought for a moment.

"Hey, doesn't he kinda look like…" Bartz began.

"That warrior-guy? What was his name…" Zidane thought harder.

"He never remembered that, did he?"

"What, really?" Vaan asked. "… That must be terrible… to not even remember that…"

The digital Cid of the Lufaine recounted his memories as the five sat patiently listening to him. When he finished, everyone had a look of shock plastered all over their faces complete with jaws barely on their hinges.

Readjusting his jaw, Bartz stated, "Whoa… We're going to need to call the others when we get back…"

(-)

The five of them got themselves ready to leave. Zidane, Vaan, Sora, and Roxas climbed aboard Ivory, bundled heavily in the blankets from within the cave and holding the strange Remedies for added warmth. When they stepped outside of the cave, Bartz noticed that the clouds seemed to have started dissipating.

"I think the storm's clearing," Bartz said, shielding his eyes and looking toward the horizon.

"Oh, sure, _now_ it wants to," Vaan grumbled.

"You'd rather walk through a blinding snowstorm?"

"No, but it would have been nice if it cleared up sooner."

The trek back toward the warp crystal was otherwise uneventful as Zidane and Vaan told Sora and Roxas about their adventures in this world between. The two listened intently as they spiritedly recounted their tales, like their first encounter with the world between against Garland, facing Ultimecia and Squall joining the team, Bartz and Squall facing a crazed Cloud, Esper Terra…

"… Wow, you guys are flying by the seat of your pants most of the time, aren't you?" Roxas noted in how many of their battles they barely escaped with their skin intact.

"… Like you wouldn't believe," the three answered in unison.

(-)

The gang finally warped into Cosmos's Sanctuary. Cosmos was soon rising from her throne to greet everyone and make sure they were alright.

"Oh, Roxas, Sora," Bartz began as Cosmos had now made her way over to them. "This is Cosmos, Goddess of Harmony and kinda the head honcho around here." Sora and Roxas extended their hands toward her. "Cosmos, these are our cousins Sora and Roxas."

Cosmos chuckled as she reached her hands out toward the boys. "Goodness, you look so much alike. If it weren't for the hair, I doubt I'd be able to tell you apart."

Sora laughed. "Why do you think they're styled this way?" When Sora and Roxas grabbed her hands, they felt a sudden pang of dizziness and clutched their heads trying to shake the feeling off.

"Are you two alright?" Cosmos asked.

"Yeah, yeah…" Roxas answered. "Just got really light-headed there for a moment."

Bartz soon was running his hands through their overly-spiked hair. "You guys are probably starving. We'd better get some food in you two."

"Yeah, me too," Vaan answered.

"Thirded," Zidane agreed.

Everyone said good-bye to Cosmos as they summoned the Doors to their world and stepped through into the light.

(-)

"Gilgamesh… Yo, Gilgamesh," Bartz said while nudging his shoulder. Gilgamesh snorted as he bolted awake, looking around to see that the boys were in his living room with rather annoyed and somewhat hungry looks on their faces.

"Enjoy your nap?" Zidane asked.

Gilgamesh scratched the back of his head and nervously laughed. "Heh, sorry, kids. Didn't mean to zonk out on you there. I'm guessing it's grub time?" The looks on their faces didn't change in the slightest. Gilgamesh took it as a resounding, "Yes." Picking himself off the couch, he dusted himself off and hurried off to the main house. "Then, what are we waiting for? TURKEY TIME!"

As the five of them watched him leave, the twins were still trying to wrap their heads around the whole thing.

"He… doesn't remember a thing? And, he looks completely fine, not to mention it's the exact same time we left!" Roxas exclaimed. "This doesn't make any sense!"

"It's _magic_, Roxas," Zidane answered rather matter-of-factly. "It doesn't have to."

(-)

There was quite a spread: Turkey, ham, Bartz's (infamous, hand-mashed) mashed potatoes, green beans, corn off-the-cob, broccoli with cheese sauce, butter rolls (which barely made it to dinner. They were just that delicious), and a garden-variety salad. Everyone was soon shoveling their faces full of the tantalizing meal (Sora made sure to at least have some salad to satisfy Aqua) and sharing stories between mouthfuls of how they've been since they've last seen each other. Of course, as always, Gilgamesh had tons of stories to share, though, by the looks on Bartz, Zidane, and Vaans', the stories were grossly exaggerated or skewed in some way or another that the real truth was lost. Aqua and Roxas, like the boys, were skeptical, but Terra and Sora were completely enthralled.

After dinner, many of the bigger eaters were rubbing their bloated tummies, half-regretting eating so much. However, the food was just too good to _stop_ eating; it wasn't like they could exactly help it. Gilgamesh went to "retire" back in his house, while the boys cleaned up dinner (despite Terra and Aqua insisting to take care of it). After that was finished, Bartz poked his head in for a moment in the living room.

"Hey, Uncle Terra, Aunt Aqua?" The two of them looked away from the TV. "I think I'm gonna turn in early tonight." He rubbed his belly and yawned. "A full belly knocks me out, ya know?"

"Us, too," everyone else agreed.

Aqua got up from the couch and gave them all a big hug and kissed them each on the head. "Alright, if that's what you want. Good night."

"Night, Aunt Aqua, Uncle Terra," the trio answered.

"Night, Mom and Dad," the twins responded.

With the five of them ready for bed, Bartz quickly whipped out his cell-phone and pulled up his contacts list. When the highlighter light up Squall's name, he pressed the "Dial" button. It buzzed a few times until a familiar, somewhat cold voice responded on the other side.

"Squall here."

"Yo, Squall. Happy Thanksgiving!"

"Yeah… whatever."

Bartz pouted, not that Squall could see. "You're supposed to say 'Thank you! You, too, Bartz! How was your dinner?' and then I would respond, 'Oh, it was great! Wish you could have been here, but I didn't want to tear you away from your family. That's what Thanksgiving's all about, you know.'" The silence told Bartz Squall was rather unamuzed. "… Oh come on, your family can't be _that_ bad."

"_Laguna_ tried to deep-fry the turkey."

"… I'm guessing that didn't end well?"

"We're lucky he didn't burn the house down."

"Yeowch."

"Hi, Squall!"

"… Zidane and Vaan say 'Hi.'"

"I heard."

"Squall says, 'Hi,' back." Squall grunted and rolled his eyes. "Squall…" Bartz said, sounding unusually serious. Squall was caught off-guard by the sudden change in tone of Bartz's voice. "We need to meet, tonight, at the Sanctuary. You're not going to _believe_ what we found…"

(-)

**DEAR GOD, this is 11 FRIGGIN PAGES LONG in Word, 12 with this Author's Note.**

**So, yeah, next chapter: the journal discovery and probably some Black Friday and other holiday-related stuff if the Journal Entry doesn't turn out to be too long. **_**You**_** may be disappointed by what the journal has to say, but this is important for the story. Deal with it. By the way, I'm excited to get the next chapter (or two, depending on the length) out of the way because I have something rather big planned with the next Chaos Warrior.**

… **Yes, I know, I'm writing the holiday chapters when the holidays are over. I'm sorry, but I'm a major procrastinator. I'd be captain of the procrastinator's guild if I wasn't always putting off making it.**


	22. How it all began

"_The truth changes things, for better or worse."_

~(-)~

Squall's phone buzzed. Groggily, he reached for it to make it shut up. The room was dark save for the lit up screen of his phone. He had programmed his phone's alarm to go off at a specific time: Midnight. It was Bartz's idea. Apparently, he and his brothers had found something "so incredible, so unbelievable, so down-right amazing," they just had to show the other as soon as possible. Squall wondered why it had to be at midnight considering the whole "time difference" thing, but, after dinner, all Squall wanted to do was sleep anyway. If Squall knew the others like he thought he knew them, they ate a lot more than they should have and had to sleep it off as well.

He threw off his blankets and stretched. After his muscles felt awake, he summoned his Crystal and transformed. Wearing his familiar leather jacket, he presented his Crystal to his bedroom door. In response to the harmonious magic, they transformed to the doors that would take him to the Sanctuary. He pushed them open as the light from the Sanctuary temporarily blinded him as he walked through the doors…

~(-)~

Cosmos looked up to see that doors to her realm began to appear.

"_That is peculiar,"_ she thought. _"I didn't summon them here. What is going on?"_

Squall and Cloud were the first to make it. They just nodded to each other to acknowledge each other's presence. Both knew they weren't ones for conversation, and it wasn't like either cared what the other did that day anyway. The next to appear was Terra. She yawned lightly and rubbed her eyes.

"Good evening, Squall, Cloud, Cosmos," she said with a gentle wave. Cloud and Squall raised a hand back in hello.

"Good evening, Terra," Cosmos nodded in greeting back.

Just then, the three brothers plus their two cousins showed up. Squall was not happy to see someone he didn't recognize in the world between. He instinctively took out his Gunblade.

Bartz jumped between Squall and his cousins. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Squall, what do you think you're doing?"

"'What am _I_ doing'?" he questioned. "What are you doing bringing _civilians_ here?"

Bartz put up his hands in an attempt to calm him. "Okay, let's get a few things clear. One, I did **not** bring them here; they followed us. Two, if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be meeting here tonight to show everyone what we found. They're a part of this now whether we want them to be or not, and trust me when I say this, I **don't** want them to be a part of this." Bartz combed his fingers though his hair to try and calm himself down as he sighed. "I've got enough family in this war."

Squall raised an eyebrow at that last statement. "'Family'?"

"Yeah, let me introduce you to-" Bartz looked around for a moment, noticing someone was missing. "Hey, wait, where's Tidus?"

Right on cue, one final door opened up, and Mr. Sunshine groggily stumbled through the door. He had a thermos of coffee in his hand and yawned loudly. He lazily lifted one of his hands as a greeting still not fully awake yet.

Sora and Roxas cocked their heads at the newcomer and walked over to him. For a moment, the three of them stared each other down. Bartz feared another confrontation was going to happen, however-

"SORA, ROXAS!" Tidus shouted, suddenly awake. "OH MAN, WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?" He flew his arms open to give them a big hug.

"Hey, man! It's been forever! How are you?" they responded in unison, also flinging their arms open for a return hug. The moment that they touched, though, the three of them felt dizzy and disoriented. Tidus fell backwards unconscious, while Sora and Roxas clutched their heads in pain.

Everyone gasped when they saw Tidus fall backwards and thought something bad happened to him. "Tidus!" they all shouted as they ran toward them. The three brothers tried to comfort their cousins who looked to be in tremendous pain while the others tried to wake Tidus up.

After a few moments, Tidus's eyes shot open as he sat up and shook his head out. "Whoa… Head-rush…"

Terra prepared a Cura spell in her hands as she asked, "What happened? Are you alright?"

Tidus chuckled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Weirdest thing just happened." He paused for a moment to try and make sense of what he just saw. "I think… I think I just remembered something from another life. Not this one or 'that' one. A completely different one entirely."

"What are you talking about?" Cloud asked.

Tidus shook his head. "I don't fully understand myself, but, when we touched, I suddenly found myself back on the Islands."

"Islands?" Terra repeated, not sure what he meant.

Tidus chuckled. "Oh right, I guess you don't know about that. Before I lived here, I lived out on the Destiny Islands, where Sora and Roxas come from. That's how we know each other. We only moved here after my… mom passed away." He cleared his throat to try and force the sadness back. "Anyway, what I just remembered, I was hanging out on the beach, as usual, with Sora and Riku and Kairi and Wakka… but, Selphie was also there."

"Selphie?" Squall blurted in shock.

"Not just that, but I had gotten a scar on my cheek from falling out of our treehouse." Tidus motioned to the cheek that the scar should be on. "As you can see: No scar to be had. Heck, they didn't even have _Blitzball_. Wakka an' me were inventing it a year later. Know what, that reminds me… After a certain storm, Sora disappeared for a while, but I don't remember ever looking for him. I don't remember why, though… Hey, wait. Why wasn't Roxas there?"

Sora and Roxas shook their heads as their cousins kept them from falling over. When the visions of what Tidus saw subsided, they both tried to figure out that question, and, why did they both see what appeared to be Sora's memories?

"Honestly…" Sora managed to finally say, "I got nothin'."

"Well, this might explain why you're here, anyway," Bartz thought out loud.

"It doesn't explain what they're doing _here_, though," Squall retorted.

"Yeah, how do you guys know them?" Tidus asked, pointing between the three brothers and their cousins.

"They're our cousins," Zidane answered.

"GET OUT!" Tidus said, shoving Sora playfully. He then smacked his forehead. "Duh, they have the same last name. Not like it's all _that_ common." He chuckled to himself some more. "Man, seeing you guys together, I can see the family resemblance."

"_Unfortunately,"_ Squall mentally added. "That doesn't quite answer my question, though."

"Ah!" Bartz began as he reached for something in his… well, he reached for something behind his back as it flashed into existence in his palm. "But, this does!" he said showing off the black PDA-like device that the others found earlier that day. The others eyed him with skepticism.

"What is it?" Terra asked.

Bartz wagged it around with a mischievous look on his face. "This, my friends, is why I've called you all here. It holds within it the recorded memories of someone known as 'Cid of the Lufaine.'" Cosmos gasped when she heard that name. Said gasp did not go unnoticed by anyone, though the brothers and their cousins knew what it meant.

"Anything you want to get off your chest before we begin, Cosmos?" Zidane asked.

"We're all ears," Vaan finished.

Cosmos looked down. "How much do you know?

"Just the beginning," the three brothers answered.

She sighed. "Very well. As some of you are already aware," motioning to the "related" ones, " I am… well, not really human."

"What do you mean by that?" Terra asked. "Are you half-Esper or something?"

"Or a Dream?" Tidus joked, elbowing Zidane in the ribs.

"No, not quite," she answered. "I am, in truth, a type of Manikin."

"YOU'RE A WHAT?" Tidus shouted in shock. Squall and Cloud armed themselves and prepared to attack at a moment's notice. Bartz, once again, stepped between their swords and their target.

Squall shot Bartz one of his patented glares of death when he saw Bartz would not back down. "Bartz, move! She's our enemy!"

Bartz, in a frighteningly good imitation of Squall, shot it right back. "… You've followed her before now without any problem. Why should what she is make a difference? Zidane, Terra, Cecil, Tidus… they aren't quite human either, but they're our trusted comrades." Squall and Cloud grunted and lowered their weapons. "Besides, she's not the only one."

Vaan shrugged. "Garland… Chaos… Them too."

"That's not all," Cosmos continued. "My most-trusted warrior and your commander... He was one, too."

"What?" everyone blurted in unbridled shock.

"Even Rusty was a Manikin this whole time?" Zidane shouted.

"I can't believe it! Stan was... Stan was..." After Vaan thought about it for a moment, it soon made sense. "Know what? That would actually explain a lot of things."

Bartz chuckled in agreement. "I was kinda beginning to think Ziggy was a robot. The guy had no past, a single-minded pursuit to protect Cosmos, a crazy amount of drive, and all the emotional expressions of a brick."

Cosmos seemed surprised. "That you didn't know?" The three brothers shook their heads.

"So, wait, wait, wait." Tidus interjected. "Let me get this straight: We've all been following **Manikins this whole time**?"

"Ooooh, if you think that's good, wait till you hear what this has to say," Bartz hummed while wagging the device around in his hand. Soon, he pressed the button that would play the first chapter in the Journal: How it all began.

The machine buzzed and whirred. It began the playback of its internal memory. The same, familiar hologram popped up displaying the man who greatly resembled the nameless warrior who was Cosmos's most trusted champion and the leader of them all. Cosmos seemed almost happy to see him, while the four who did not know of the journal's contents were fascinated by what the journal was currently showing them.

"He looks just like the Warrior of Light!" Tidus blurted out in shock.

"_Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious,"_ Squall mentally quipped.

Cloud shook his head. "… They may look alike, but I don't think they're the same person. This Cid looks too old."

"Not just that," Terra added. "He looks so… sad."

When Cid looked into what everyone assumed was the camera recording the message, his eyes seemed dull and lifeless, as if a thousand years of mistakes were finally catching up with him. He seemed to smile for a moment. If one blinked, they would have missed it entirely.

"I see you found the will learn," he began. "Good. Then, listen closely to what I have to say, for these words were meant for your ears." He shifted his position a bit to make himself more comfortable. "It began when the country of Onrac commissioned myself and my wife to create for them a weapon, after they had learned I had created the airships of my world. This weapon had to have considerable power, enough power to counter the Summons of their neighboring countries, including the great weapon of destruction, Omega. During my research, I and my fellow scientists had discovered the Interdimensional Rift from which all worlds are born and connected and a special mineral from within this rift. It was a curious substance. We called it 'Crystal Ore.' During our experimentation, we discovered that its shape was dependent upon memories. In feeding it different memories that drifted through the rift, we created the first Manikins. Ultimately, though, they were a failure. While great in number, they were unintelligent and lacked the necessary power to be truly effective. We sealed them in the Rift so that no one else could use them. That was when I had called upon my knowledge of my home. You see, we Lufenian have a special ritual that allows us to preserve our memories for future generations. Memories are very powerful, after all. They are, essentially, time. If the memories do not exist, then there is no proof that it ever happened. To give the Manikin the power that Onrac required, I had imparted the memories of not just myself, but of nine other scientists, for a total of ten sets of memories to shape the weapon. The result was an infant of black skin and a monstrous appearance. We named him 'Garland.'"

"Despite his grotesque appearance, my wife and I loved him like a son. Those years of my life were truly wonderful." He sighed and shook his head. "Such days were not meant to last, however. We always knew what he was. He was a weapon. The State would come for him sooner or later. They did not see him as the living being he was. It is now I wonder who was truly more inhumane: Onrac for using him as a weapon, or me, by trying to give him a normal life despite knowing why I brought him into this world?"

"When the time finally came, however, things did not go as well as the military had hoped. While Garland was as strong as they had wanted, he lacked the will to fight. The government was displeased, to say the least. They had come back… and took her. They took my wife so that they would use her to use their weapon. Such deplorable actions. Through her, their enemies were reduced to ash and rubble. The summons and Omega were no more. Our happy life was ruined. Garland… Our son… That was the start of a downward spiral of destruction that would draw not just this world, but all worlds into conflict for one man's selfish desire for revenge."

"When the government tried to use her a second time to convince Garland to destroy, she refused. Enough blood was on her hands. Garland was the sword, and she was its wielder. The government knew it. Without her, their weapon would not cleave the land as it was meant to. In their frustration, they branded us as traitors and cast us into the deepest parts of the Earth. Still, even in the depths of hell, we heard whispers of a terrible project. They attempted to revive the Manikin project. They intended to create a duplicate of my wife, a new wielder for their sword. We grew desperate and sought a way to escape. As disciples of thought, we studied the patterns of the monsters that roamed the caves. When we had learned their behaviors and habits, we used them to our advantage to escape."

"When we finally escaped, we made our way to the laboratory where he was being kept. When we had finally found him, he was a shell of his former self. He was in terrible condition, thin to the point he was skin and bones, with a glimmer of hated burning in his eyes. At that time, I had thought it was toward the government, but now, I believe that hate was directed toward me. My wife had tried to get him to leave with us, though we were soon caught. And… And… She was shot. Garland, in a bought of despair, tore open a hole in reality, where Garland and myself were drawn in and became lost in the Rift between worlds."

"When I awoke in the Rift, I found myself on a world similar to my own, though different. Essentially, a mirror of the world I knew. Garland and the clone of my wife, who was called Cosmos, had also been cast into the Rift along with myself. I had wished for a way back. I wished for revenge against the world that had robbed me of everything: my wife, my son, my _life_, by using the very weapon they had me create. However, such a task would not be easy. A great amount of power would be needed to open a hole in space in order to send us back. At the time, Garland lacked such power. During our time in the Rift, we had come upon a great dragon. This beast… His power was without equal, or, so I thought. The dragon, which we would come to call Shinryu, had recently retreated here after a great battle which he barely survived… with the weapon that Garland had once sealed in the Rift, Omega. The dragon sought power: Power to defeat Omega. It was then we had devised a plan. We would start our own war. Shinryu imparted parts of his power unto Cosmos and Garland, transforming them and giving them powers divine. I had surrendered my body in order to gain immortality to forever watch the war and so that I could witness the destruction of my enemies from on high. The two warring gods would summon warriors from the worlds connected to the Rift to do battle until Cosmos's side perishes. Cosmos was never meant to win the war. Shinryu would then consume the memories of the fallen and reset the pawns for the next cycle of war, giving my son some of the gained power. When the warriors were summoned, they had no recollection of who they were, only the false promise of returning home if victory was achieved. Such a cruel thing to do, to promise such a thing in a war with no end…"

"And, thus, the War between the Gods, began."

The hologram fizzled out as the story came to an abrupt end. The same look of shock was plastered all over Terra, Cloud, Squall, and Tidus' faces. They were unsure how to respond at that moment. Part of them wanted to strike Cosmos down at that moment, but the others knew about this before they did. However, even though they were not supposed to win the war, they yet did. So, they just sat there in stupefied silence, which was abruptly ended when they heard fits of laughter coming from the others. When they snapped back into reality, they could see the others were holding their sides from laughing so hard.

"Aw, man!" Zidane wheezed between laughs. "You guys should see your faces!"

"I totally got a picture of that on my phone!" Bartz added.

Vaan was practically climbing on Bartz for said phone. "Oh man! Oh man! Lemme see! Lemme see!"

Squall got up and snatched said phone from Bartz before Vaan had the chance to do so himself. "How can you be so… carefree about this whole thing?"

"Come on guys!" Sora said, placing his hands behind his head in a relaxing way. "You gotta admit, your faces were hilarious!"

"That's not what I mean!" Squall shouted. The five of them stopped laughing at that moment. "You knew all of this. ALL OF THIS, and you still defended Cosmos? SHE WAS SENDING US TO OUR DEATHS, AND KNEW IT."

Bartz, Zidane, and Vaan shrugged. "So?"

"So? SO? How can you be so nonchalant about all of this?"

Bartz sighed and scratched his head. "Yeah, war sucks, we know, trust us." He paused for a moment when Reks flashed in his mind. "But, if that didn't happen, we wouldn't be here today, now would we?"

"Besides," Vaan continued, "Remember what Cid said? Cosmos was never supposed to win the war. Hell, the war was never supposed to _end_."

"And, yet, _it did_," Zidane finished.

"That alone speaks volumes for us," they answered in unison.

Cosmos, one who normally kept her emotions in check, at that moment, broke down in tears. To hear those three have such resounding faith in her despite knowing the truth… She couldn't believe such a thing. Even knowing the truth before the others did, they continued to defend her.

"Whoa, hey, Cosmos! Don't cry!" Vaan said, trying to comfort her.

"Yeah, I don't like it when pretty girls cry," Zidane said, offering her his cravat to use as a handkerchief.

"It's Thanksgiving! This is a time to be happy with friends and family!" Bartz added.

"Hate to break it to you Bartz, but it's past midnight," Roxas interjected.

Bartz chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Oh… right. Um… It's Black Friday: A time to shop for great deals and be frustrated by the holiday traffic as stores try to make their profits for the year by milking us for all we're worth!"

Roxas was clearly unamused. "I'm sure she feels a _whoooooole_ lot better now, Bartz." Bartz just shrugged as Squall rolled his eyes.

Cosmos began to regain her composure. Her eyes and cheeks were still a bit red and puffy, but she seemed far more calm. "F-Forgive me."

"Nah, it's cool, right, guys?" Bartz asked.

Terra, Cloud, Squall, and Tidus still seemed a bit unsure, but, if Bartz, Zidane, Vaan, and the others were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, then they would as well. They silently nodded. Cosmos gave a gentle smile as a thank you.

"OH!" Bartz suddenly blurted out, remembering something. "Hey, since tomorrow is Black Friday, is there anything you guys want for Christmas? Might as well try to do some shopping tomorrow, know what I mean?" He chuckled as he began to ramble of his own Holiday list of what he wanted and who to get presents for and what to get them while going on the occasional tangents of predicting what others would get each other.

Squall just sighed and shook his head. _"Bartz will be Bartz."_

~(-)~

**Welp, as I figured, this chapter was going to just be the Journal's contents. So, were you disappointed? If you played the game, you should know that the Journal was just a summary of the Reports through the eyes of Cid (or at least so far).**

**Side note: I really should stop watching so much Poke-Spe/DDFF-related Youtube vids. … But, damnitall if they aren't awesome. THE WORLD NEEDS MORE TEAM 589 VIDS! SO DECREE I, THE MASTER OF DRAGONS, WEARER OF SUPER MAGICAL UNDERWEAR, AND INHALER OF CORN!**

**Oh, one last note: I did a quick edit when I realized that Cid hasn't yet mentioned the fact that he created the Warrior of Light, so I went back in to fix that. Also, everyone has a different name for him. Zidane calls him Rusty (a reference to another knight he knows). Vaan calls him Stan (Dissidia Project). Bartz calls him Ziggy, which is short for Siegfried (which I read in another Fanfiction on DeviantArt, and I thought it was a very fitting name for him. As soon as I can remember who that is, I'll be sure to credit them here... If I remember to do that, of course.). Even though they're switching names, they're all referring to the same person. What's his real name? The game didn't tell us, so why should I (meaning, I don't know yet if I do decide to give him one)?**

**Next time: The holidays are approaching! People scramble for that perfect gift, but _I_ shall give you dis pear…**


	23. A Chaotic Friday

**Quick note: Made some adjustments to the last chapter. I realized that I actually haven't yet mentioned that the Warrior of Light is a Manikin, so I had to go fix that. And, on that note, how many of you actually played Dissidia? I mean, it only seemed like one person realized that I was summarizing the Reports of Dissidia through Cid's eyes last chapter (which is why I thought you would be disappointed by the Journal's contents because you should all know this already). ;;**

~(-)~

"_We often don't know what it is we truly want"_

~(-)~

A familiar violin played. Bartz recognized the song instantly. _"Cantarella,"_ he thought. He was always a fan of Vocaloids, only, instead of the synthesized voice he expected to hear, he began singing Kaito's part of the song. He didn't really know _why_ he was, or… oh god, why he was wearing _that_. Red, mid-length shirt cut low to expose his abs with a popped collar, tied together at the base, a green sash, black slacks, black dancing shoes, and two, gold bracelets on his wrists. But, maybe that wasn't the weirdest part. He knew this song as a duet; he just couldn't believe who was filling in the role of Miku.

It was none other than _Paine_, who wearing an outfit just as outlandish as his own. It looked like it came straight from Elvis's closet, a white coat with blue, frilly sleeves and collar, white pants with blue, ringed patterns on the thighs, brown boots with more blue frills, and (he gulped, since he couldn't stop himself from staring), a simple, black bra to act as her top.

Oh, they were singing… In Japanese… _to each other_. The worst part? Bartz knew what this song meant. He always had. It came with being well-traveled. He was rather crept out. He wasn't sure what scared him more: What they were doing, or the fact that, well, he rather _enjoyed_ it. The way their voices were in perfect harmony (Bartz was honestly rather surprised that Paine had such a nice singing voice), the way their bodies moved… As cheesy as it was to say it, it was like poetry in motion. At one point during the song, Paine took the lead, but Bartz's didn't miss a step. He seemed to have been anticipating it the whole time and read the switch perfectly. He began to think that this wasn't poetry in motion… That was just too… _constricting_ of a description. It was more like… like… they had been dancing this dance their entire lives and had always knew the steps just waiting for their perfect dance partner to arrive to complete it. It was too beautiful for Bartz to accurately describe. He just knew it was more peaceful than the setting sun, more radiant that the rising moon, and more stunning than the following sunrise.

Before he knew it, the song was over. She had dipped him, and the two were panting heavily. They had poured their heart and souls into that dance. The dip lasted longer than Bartz expected, but he had absolute faith in Paine. She wasn't about to drop him. But, he really didn't expect what she did next. She ran her hand over his well-sculpted abs and chest. He squirmed a bit since it tickled, and he slipped, landing hard on the floor, taking Paine with him. She landed right on top of him, her hot breath entering his ears. Or, maybe it wasn't her breath that was hot but rather his ears from the sudden blood-rush. He really wasn't sure, but it was ecstasy. He could feel her shift her weight on him. Her head turned so that he could practically feel her velvety lips on his ears. As much as he tried to control himself, his pants suddenly got really, really tight. He felt his cheeks get as hot as his ears as he prayed she didn't notice.

Finally finding his voice, he managed to squeak out (in a voice a few octaves higher than normal), "Whoa, whoa, Paine! Um… Uh… Coming on a little strong, don't you think?"

She shifted herself again so that she now had Bartz completely pinned underneath her. She gave him the smuggest, yet so extremely _hot_, looks of confidence Bartz had ever seen. He gulped as she, once again, ran her hand over his pecks, moving further down to his abs. Bartz did his damnest to prevent himself from laughing. Her touch was so featherly-light upon his skin that it was just really, really ticklish! When she got to the knot that kept his shirt together, she began to undo it.

"P-Paine?" Bartz squeaked again. _"Oh man… Oh man… OH MAN! Is she- No! She couldn't! … Oh, lord, she _is_!"_ He could feel himself begin to sweat. "Paine, th-this isn't funny! Paine? PAINE?"

"Bartz…" She finally answered. Her voice was so strangely seductive. He was both scared and exhilarated. She moved closer toward his face; her lips forming a kissing face. Bartz gulped yet again.

"_Sweet Cosmos… Here it comes… By the Crystals… What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?"_

"Bartz…" she repeated. "Wake up, bro…"

"Huh?"

"You're dreaming, Bartz…"

"Uh…"

She than gave him a swift slap to the face.

~(-)~

Bartz bolted awake, caressing his now sore, red cheek. Looking around, he saw he was back in his room and his brothers were standing by his bed. A quick look at the clock on his nightstand said the time was 5:04 AM.

"Uh, _finally!_" Zidane lamented.

"Uh, Bartz…" Vaan started, rubbing the back of his neck. "Are you aware you talk in your sleep?" Bartz could feel his cheeks turn beat-red.

"Talk? _TALK?_" Zidane yelled. "Bartz was full-blown **singing**! I'm surprised he didn't wake up the whole house!"

Vaan rolled his eyes, "If they weren't awake before, they definitely are now." Bartz slid under his covers to try and hide his shame.

Terra and Aqua then barged into the room.

"Is everything alright, boys?" Aqua asked. "Why are you yelling?"

"Bartz was having a wet dream," Zidane grumpily replied, extremely annoyed by Bartz's early wake-up call.

"Z-ZIDANE!" Bartz shouted in embarrassment from under his covers.

Terra and Aqua couldn't help but smile and aww.

"My nephew had his first wet dream…" Terra said dreamily. "It's time for 'the talk.'"

"_Oh goodie…"_ Bartz thought from his hiding position. The way Terra said that, it was obvious he hasn't had "the talk" with Sora or Roxas yet but, frankly, couldn't wait. _"Lucky me…"_

~(-)~

Bartz had decided since, well, he was up and probably wasn't going to go back to bed _anytime_ soon (he wasn't sure he could trust his own subconscious at the moment), he would get himself dressed and head to the mall to do some Black Friday shopping. He threw on a sky-blue muscle shirt with a yellow-trimmed collar under a darker blue, sleeveless hoodie with a golden-colored zipper and a white hood with yellow beaded hood-pulls and three yellow stars on the hood. He zipped up the hoodie just enough so that his shirt underneath was still visible. He then put on two, blue, arm warmers, white denim jeans, and gray boots to go over his pants. Finally, he threw on his jacket, a blue windbreaker with two yellow stripes that ran up both arms and grabbed the goggles he found yesterday in his dad's closet to rescue his brothers and cousins. Sure, they probably had no use _now_, but, in his mind, goggles were cool.

Much to Bartz's dismay, Terra decided to give him a ride to the mall. He was now stuck with his uncle in a confined space. He knew it was coming.

"So, Bartz… You like a girl…" he began, trying to break the ice.

Bartz flipped up his hood trying to hide the building red in his face. _"Why didn't I bring my headphones?"_ he mentally lamented.

Terra chuckled at Bartz trying to hide his shame. "Oh, come on, Bartz. It's not that bad. It's completely natural. You're a teenage boy."

"I KNOW!" he accidentally shouted in frustration. He sighed, "… I know…"

"Don't you like her?"

"No! … Well, yes…" He sighed again. "I dunno, maybe. I don't know if I like her like _that_."

Terra laughed. "You know what they say, 'A dream is a wish your heart makes.'"

Bartz glared at him. "You watch too many Disney movies…"

"Come on! You like her. Does she like you?"

"Maybe?" He scratched his head. Paine wasn't the easiest person to read, (not unlike another leather-clad friend of his), but she didn't seem to _detest_ his presence. That was a plus.

"… Is she hot?"

Bartz blurted out something that could only be described as a fish gasping for water if it had vocal cords. "WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?"

"A completely legitimate one."

"WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING, THOUGH?"

"Just so I can get an idea of what my grandkids would look like," Terra answered with a chuckle and bright smile.

Bartz wanted nothing more than to bury himself under the pavement._ "Someone… anyone… Awaken and put me out of my misery…"_

~(-)~

The ride to the mall wasn't _all_ that long, but it felt like forever to Bartz. Still, it _was_ quite a while since it was on the complete other end of town from the ranch. Not only that, but the mall itself sat on the edge of the barrier that covered the down. If Bartz could concentrate, he could see the purple barrier in the sky that made any Awakened Warrior of Chaos enter the world between. Bartz felt a little uncomfortable being this close to the edge of the barrier, especially considering what happened the last time he left it. Still, he wasn't _completely_ worried. A Warrior just Awoke the day before, so it seemed unlikely that one would Awake today. And, he was still inside said barrier. If, Cosmos forbid, a Warrior _did_ Awake, he was still okay. Nothing should happen.

Terra waved to him from within the car. "See ya, Bartz. Call me when you're done. I'll swing by to pick you up."

Bartz waved back, trying his best to calm himself down after their little "talk." "Bye, Uncle Terra…" When Terra sped out of sight, Bartz just sighed and turned on his heels, heading inside the mall.

The mall itself wasn't the biggest of them out there. There were two floors and three wings, each pointing out from the center to cut an imaginary circle into thirds. At the end of each of the wings were stores that were larger than the rest, a Target at one end, a Macy's at another, and a Sears in the final wing. At the center of the mall where the wings connected was a small food court where many teens would often hang out after school. He hadn't had breakfast yet, and he knew there was a Cinnibon within said food court. He could really, really use something sweet right now.

After getting the largest cinnamon roll Bartz could get, he sat down at an empty table in the food court and whipped out his cell phone. The clock read 6:28 AM.

"Huh… Wonder if Squall's up by now… If I had to guess, he is." Bartz shot him a text.

Bartz: Hey, Squall. At the mall doing shopping. Wanna hang? o 3o

It wasn't long until he got an answer.

Squall: … Whatever.

Bartz took that as Squall for "Yes."

Bartz: Bringing Rinoa? ;)

Bartz got a reply almost instantly.

Squall: God no. Have you ever gone shopping with her?

Bartz: ono That bad?

Squall: You have no idea… ;;

Bartz imagined Squall carrying boxes upon boxes of shoes with his arms completely draped in shopping bags. He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. His phone "OBJECTION"'d again (it was his text notification. Sure, it was loud and obnoxious, but what would anyone expect from him? Besides, to have _the_ Phoenix Wright tell him he has a text? How could he pass that opportunity up?)

Squall: It's worse than that.

Bartz: ASDFLKJ? How do you know what I was thinking? Ono;;

Squall: I know you. You watch too many movies.

Bartz: *pouts* I'm a mime. What do you want from me?

Squall: To act your age, not your shoe size.

Bartz: Yes, Mother. :p

Squall: *slaps*

Bartz: Ow. X(

Bartz: 7:30? Food court?

Squall: Whatever.

With that, he had finally finished his cinnamon roll, licked any lingering sugar off his fingers, and wiped away any of the sticky, sugar sweetness that got stuck on his chin. The mall was surprisingly less busy than he thought it would be. It seemed the mall actually was open since midnight which was when most people came in to do their shopping, not that Bartz was complaining. He didn't have to worry about lines at the register. He probably missed the bigger deals, though. Oh well, he's already got a pretty nice computer and television at home. Not like he really needed those things anyway. Anyway, he still had a little time and quite a few people to shop for.

"_Might as well try and find something for Squall first,"_ he thought. Said thought was quickly followed with a chuckle. A year ago, if someone had told him that he would be shopping for a Christmas present for Squall in a year _and_ the two of them would be best friends, he would have told them they were crazy. This time last year, the two of them were on the complete opposite of friendly terms. Squall was the bully (okay, maybe not Squall himself, but he was friends with the real bully), and Bartz was the shrimp consistently beat up for his lunch. "Can't believe how much has changed… I don't even recognize myself sometimes…"

Bartz was busy making a mental checklist of who to get presents for. "Let's see… Zidane, Vaan, Sora, Roxas, Uncle Terra, Aunt Aqua, Gilgamesh, Terra, Garnet, Squall, Rinoa, Cloud, Zack, Aerith, Tifa, Firion, Light, Tidus, Yuna…" He counted on his fingers and made a quick mental rundown if there was anyone he really missed. "Hm… Oh! I should get something for Laguna, too. He did try, not that we could rightly tell him what was wrong. And, I guess a pear for Sephiroth…" He giggled. "I shall give you dis pear," he mimicked. He then realized he forgot someone. "… Oh… Paine…" He shook his head, trying to get his dream out of his head. "… Right, well, I think that's everyone. Better take care of the ones that are easier first."

Bartz's first stop was one of the mall's Gamestops. This mall, at one point, had both a Gamestop and an Electronics Boutique, but when Gamestop bought out EB, the EBs became Gamestops, and the mall kept both. The one that was always a Gamestop was a bigger store and tended to have a better collection. Out of all the stores, this particular Gamestop was probably the busiest. As soon as he walked in, he was greeted by a blond hair boy wearing a yellow t-shirt with tire tracks that ran across the front. He wore a name-tag on a lanyard that read, "Layle."

"Hey, welcome to-" He stopped himself when he realized who it was he was talking to. "Hey, Bartz! Been a while! How've you been?"

"Good, good!" he answered. "Working here again?"

"Just for the holidays," he sighed. "If it weren't for the 15% discount and the fact I don't have a job otherwise, I would much, much rather work _anywhere_ else."

"The ranch is always looking for help."

"I'm not much of a farm-boy, Bartz."

"Hey, you were the one who said you'd rather have any other job."

"… Touché." He cleared his throat when he was getting off-track from his real job. "So, Christmas shopping?"

"Close enough."

"Alright. Holler if you need anything." And, with that, he went off to help a grandfather who recently walked into the store with a list and a hopelessly confused look on his face.

Bartz scanned the game racks looking at the recently released games. Unlike his brothers, he never really cared much for Modern Warfare or its like, especially now. He always had a thing for RPGs and other fantasy-games.

"Oh man! New Zelda game!" he shouted, snatching the box from the rack. He gasped when he looked behind the counter. "OH. MY. GOD." Standing as the holy pride of dork-dom was the new Elder Scrolls game. There was no way Bartz was turning that down. Fortunately, there was one Collector's Edition left. He mischievously chuckled to himself. "I don't think my bros would mind if I bought myself a present…"

He walked out of the store with The Legend of Zelda, Kirby, Rayman, Skyrim, and two $25 gift cards for his cousins. "Well, let's see… Who next?" He took a quick peak at his cell-phone. He still had about half-an-hour before he was to meet Squall, so he had to make it quick, whatever he decided to do. While he was thinking to himself, he walked by the mall's Hot Topic and stopped. Sure, he did pop in every once-in-a-while, but that was mainly because they had awesome video game shirts and hoodies and other junk like that ("Ooh! Skyward Sword shirt!"). But, he also knew, if he was going to find anything for Paine, it would be here. It was just, other than the video game memorabilia, Hot Topic really wasn't his taste. It was all dark and depressing, and he, well, _wasn't_. Still, he sighed and shrugged. He figured he had no pride left anyway after this morning, and he was still a dork at heart. His pride was his dork-dom.

As soon as he entered the store, he could feel the judgmental glares of the employees on him. His bright blues, yellows, and whites just completely clashed with the black, grays, and reds that heavily littered the walls. Bartz did his best to try and ignore them and go about his business. Bartz wandered over to the small jewelry selection the store had. It was mostly silver, no wait, metal jewelry with fake jewels. Bartz mentally sneered at them. He really hated fake jewelry since it would often leave a green stain in his skin and/or make him break out. And, he was a guy. Sure, Paine wasn't much of a girl, but he did notice the earrings and necklace. He'd have to be an idiot to miss them (well, he was an idiot, but not _that_ much of one).

"Can I help you, _sir_?" asked one of the employees behind the register. He could tell by her condescending tone that he really wasn't welcome here, or, at the very least, not by her.

Bartz, being the mime that he was, ended up adopting a similar condescending attitude. "Yeah. Got any jewelry that's not _cheap_?"

The Manager decided to take over to try and defuse the situation and not lose a potential customer, but, considering his faux-hawk, heavy eye-liner, eyebrow piercing, and nose piercing, Bartz found that _highly_ unlikely. "A-Allow me to direct you to our case here, by the resister. We keep our more, e-hem, pricy accessories here, you know, to prevent theft."

Bartz crouched to observe the jewelry at eye level. Still, nothing really caught his eye, probably because nothing was really _his_ taste (well, other than the NES controller belt buckle. He mentally drooled over the nostalgia). He lightly bumped his head against the glass. _"Okay, Bartz. Think. If you were Paine, what would you want?"_ he thought. _ "… If I were Paine…"_ He took a moment to, well, for lack of a better description, "get into character." He mentally imagined himself _as_ Paine (mental scarring aside) and tried to look at the case in a new way. That was when he, finally, saw it: A belt buckle. It had a skull in the middle, but an angelic wing stretched out from behind it. He thought it might be a little too Hell's-Angels-ish, but it did remind him of Paine. That was enough. He pointed at the buckle. "That."

"The belt buckle?" Bartz nodded. "Excellent choice!"

Bartz was soon rung up for the purchase, though, his heart dipped a bit when he saw the price on the screen. _"Fourty-bucks, May? NON-REFUNDABLE? THOSE KIDS ARE GROUNDED! … Yeash, even in my own head I can't resist making references. Oh well, at least they aren't time puns…"_

After Bartz left the store, he whipped out his cell-phone once more to check the time. It was about ten minutes to eight-thirty, so he figured he should head to the food court to wait. He could always use a second breakfast and a small break anyway. The Skyrim collector's edition was HEAVY. It didn't take that long for Bartz to arrive in the food court. He looked for an empty or mostly-empty table. Having found one, he placed all of his purchases on top and flopped into his chair, sighing. He stretched a bit since his arms were a little stiff from carrying around Skyrim. He mentally cursed himself for buying it now, but he wasn't sure how long it was going to last. He could always say that he bought his present from his brothers (It makes sense in his mind).

His phone shouted its obnoxious text notification. He expected it to be Squall wondering where he was. To his surprise, though, it was from Zidane.

"_Huh, wonder what he wants…"_ he thought. Opening the message, Bartz's heart sunk. He was too focused on the message to see that Squall finally found him in the food court. Squall tapped Bartz's shoulder which caused Bartz to yelp in shock and fumble with his phone.

Squall wasn't expecting that kind of reaction. "I thought you said you wanted to meet?"

After managing to get his grip back on his phone, Bartz turned around to see Squall and breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't _do_ that, Squall." He then shoved his cell phone at Squall. "Read that."

Squall took Bartz's cell phone in hand and noticed that it was a text message from Zidane.

Zidane: Our cousins! Something happened! Theyve got a fever! 104!

Bartz's phone shouted another Objection, now causing Squall to fumble with the phone.

"Eh-heh-heh… Sorry…" Bartz apologized. "I should've warned you about that…"

Zidane: They wont stop screaming in pain. Clutching their chests. Were doing all we can to calm them down. Nothing working so far.

Squall handed the phone back to Bartz, so he could read the new message. Bartz's heart sank further. Deciding to screw the text conversation, he just called Zidane up directly.

Bartz could feel his adrenaline kicking in. His legs twitched up and down uncontrollably as his free phone hand tapped his knee. Finally, Zidane picked up.

"ZIDANE? What's going on?"

~(-)~

"I'm not sure!" The house was busy with frantic parents and cousins trying their best to calm Sora and Roxas down. They were thrashing about in great amounts of pain. Terra and Vaan tried their best to hold them down to prevent them from hurting themselves, while Aqua tried to cool them down with ice packs. "According to Uncle Terra and Aunt Aqua, it started as soon as they tried to wake them up!"

"MAKE IT STOP!" Sora shouted.

"NO MORE! NO MORE!" Roxas screamed.

Zidane flinched. The way Bartz went silent, he was sure Bartz heard them.

"TERRA! STOP!"

"VANITAS! NO!"

"MASTER XEHANORT! MASTER ERAQUS? WHY?"

"'_Master Xehanort'?"_ Zidane thought.

Aqua tried her best to fan them. "The fever's making them delirious! That's it, I'm calling 911!"

Zidane put his phone on the ground and rushed back into the room. "Uncle Terra! I got this, you help Aunt Aqua!" he said as he tried his best to restrain a thrashing Sora.

"You sure?"

Zidane nodded, trying to keep his energy focused on Sora. "He's tiring, so I should be okay. Besides, I'm stronger than I look."

Terra nodded in return. "Okay, I'll get some more ice." And, he left the room.

"It hurts!" Roxas cried.

"Sora! SORA!" Zidane shouted. "Focus! Focus on me! What happened?"

Sora opened his blue eyes and tried his best to focus on Zidane through the pain. Panting, he said, "… Ventus… Vanitas…"

"Okay, what about your middle names?"

"… Same… Split… Heart… AAAAAAAAARGH!" Sora screamed. The pain was getting to be too much.

"Sora, calm down! What does that mean?"

"We… We were the same person… once…" he stuttered before he passed out.

Zidane turned to the doorway. "AUNT AQUA! TELL THEM TO HURRY!"

~(-)~

"That's what they said?" Bartz shouted into the receiver.

"Yeah," Zidane said, sighing, as the ambulance finally arrived at the ranch to take Sora and Roxas to the hospital. "I think what happened with Tidus last night just happened again."

"They only got a minor headache that time, though…" Bartz trailed off. "… Did Uncle Terra and Aunt Aqua 'remember' anything?"

"I asked. No."

Bartz breathed a sigh of relief. "Maybe that only happens to Awakened Warriors."

"Let's hope."

"Alright, I'm coming. What's the room?"

"No! No, don't worry about it, bro. Just do what you got to do now. You can swing by afterwards. Besides, I don't know. They just came by to get them. We're heading over now."

Bartz sighed. "Alright. Keep me posted."

"Duh!"

He hung up the phone, sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair. Squall didn't catch the whole conversation, but he got the gist of it.

"So, are they Awakening?"

"Painfully, it seems." Bartz shook his head. "That should be impossible, though. They don't have a Crystal."

Squall took a moment to think. "… You said that you guys met Cosmos after you rescued them from the snowstorm."

"Yeah?"

"Did anything weird happen?"

"Not really, no."

"Think about it. Maybe it didn't seem weird at the time."

Bartz did as he was told. He introduced them to Cosmos, they shook hands… "… Oh my god."

"What?"

"That time! When Cosmos shook their hands! They got dizzy!"

"That's it, then."

"Wait, though." Bartz shook his head. "Something isn't adding up. Before we all went to bed, they gave them a hug and kiss good-night. Shouldn't this have happened then?"

They thought about it for a moment. "Bartz?"

"Yeah?"

"When more of our Crystals gather in one place, don't unusual things tend to happen?"

Bartz covered his mouth and gasped. It was true. Last night in Cosmos's Sanctuary, all of her Awakened Warriors were in one place, plus, Cosmos herself who, if Bartz had to guess, had the rest of her Warriors' Crystals. All of those Crystals in one place… Could they end up Awakening _anyone_?

"Squall, this is bad! Five of us hang out at lunch every day! If Terra started joining us, things could get _worse_! What if Yuna Awakens? What if this causes Rinoa or Garnet to Awaken? What are we going to do?"

Squall grabbed Bartz's shoulders. "Bartz, calm down." Bartz was hyperventilating. His panic attack started to make a scene. Squall could hear murmurs of other patrons wondering if he was alright or if he needed an ambulance. Squall did the one thing he could think of.

_SLAP!_

"OOOOOOOOOW!" Bartz screamed as he caressed his now-red cheek. "… What is it with everyone slapping me today?"

"Better?"

"Not really, but close enough." When Bartz looked around and noticed that people were watching him, Bartz flipped his hood up to hide the building red in his cheeks that _weren't_ from the slap and shooed everyone away, insisting he was fine.

Bartz flopped on the table and sighed. He really didn't need this. Not now of all times. He was too preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't notice Squall left until he came back, slamming a water bottle on the table.

"Drink," he commanded.

"Yes, Mom," Bartz replied sarcastically, which earned Bartz a slap to the back of the head. "Seriously, what did I _just_ say?" he huffed.

Bartz had drunk down the bottle and breathed a sigh of relief. He had to admit, he did feel a bit better. Yeah, he was still worried about his cousins and the unknown extra effects of the Crystals, but now wasn't the time to dwell on it. He was here to shop for family and friends! Placing the bottle in the appropriate receptacle, Bartz gathered up his things and got ready to continue.

"So, where to?" Squall asked.

"Uh…" Bartz stalled while he tried to figure that out. "Oh! I need to head to Target. Gotta get me some cards."

"Halmark's better for that, you know."

"Huh? OH! Not _those_ kind of cards! Trading cards! Like, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon cards!"

"… Seriously?"

"E-yup! This year, I'm walking away with them all!" Squall gave Bartz a confused look. "Oh! We use card packs instead of chocolate for Dreidel."

"… Isn't that a Jewish game, though?"

"Yeah, and…?" Bartz slapped his forehead. "I never _told_ you I was Jewish, did I?"

"It _conveniently_ slipped your mind (among other things). Wait, though. Isn't Vaan Muslim?"

"Yeah, and?" Squall was unusually expressive today as he gave Bartz a look of disbelief. "Dude, why do you think my last name is German, but I have brown hair and brown eyes?"

~(-)~

They walked toward the wing of the mall that contained the Target at its end. As soon as they walked in, they were assaulted by the scent of the small café on the lower floor. Various scents of coffee wafted in the air, but there was also a hint of popcorn (which caused a small dribble of drool to escape from Bartz's mouth). They made their way toward the trading card rack.

"Aw, sweet! New tins!" Bartz exclaimed excitedly. He snatched up five of them, one for each of them. To Bartz's surprise though, Squall grabbed one as well. "Squall! You're not supposed to buy me a present with me here!" he whined.

"This isn't yours, or at least, not yet."

"Huh?"

"What, you think I'm going to turn down your little game? I could always use some new rares."

"… You play Yu-Gi-Oh?"

"You sound surprised."

"Uh, duh? You don't seem like the type."

"You also don't seem like the type to carry the fate of the world on his shoulders."

"… Touché."

~(-)~

Having bought everything, Bartz's arms were starting to get really, really tired.

"Hey, Squall?" he started.

"Let me guess: You wanna borrow my trunk."

"Bingo."

They walked back toward the center of the mall, this time on the outside since that's where Squall parked his car. He flipped open his trunk as Bartz unloaded the heavy bags into the rear. While he was preoccupied with that, a small sedan screeched by and wildly pulled into the empty parking space next to Squall's car. It was a miracle that the driver missed them and the car. Bartz and Squall felt their heart skip a beat.

"WHOA! My bad, guys!"

Bartz looked up from the trunk to see that the driver of said car was none other than Zack. "BY THE HORRY HOSTS OF HOGGATH, ZACK! Are you _trying_ to kill us?"

"I said I was sorry! You try driving with Granny here in the car!" Said granny gave Zack a quick bonk on his forehead with her cane. "OW! JEESE!"

"What are you trying to do, kill me? I said, 'Slow down!'"

"Yeah, but you also told me to speed up!" Zack sighed. _"I see why now Cloud didn't want to take her in. Yeash."_

Stepping out of the passenger-side door was a really, really old woman. Her back was arched making her appear very small, and she had her own personal oxygen tank with its various tubules connecting back to her face.

"Uh, hi, Grandma Jenova!" Bartz said nervously, fearing yet another bonk and/or slap to the head. "H-How have you been?"

To completely contrast her personality in the car, Grandma Jenova gave Bartz a rather grandmotherly smile. "Oh, is that you, Bartz? Goodness, fancy running into you here."

"Y-Yeah, it's me."

"Oh, I'm well, Kiddo. Just doing my Christmas shopping. Never can be too early, you know."

Zack's phone went off. "Hello? … What? Seriously? UGH! I thought I had the day off? … Fine, fine, I'm coming, I'm coming. I'll be right there." He hung up the phone. "Talk about terrible timing. Granny, I gotta take off. Work just called. Apparently, big emergency, and they need all the help they can get. And, I promised Cloud I would help."

"Oh! Squall'n me can watch after her, right, Squall?"

"What?"

"It'll be no problem!"

"Bartz, don't volunteer me-"

"Awesome!" Zack shouted. "I'll be back later, Granny, to pick you up." And, with that, Zack sped off before Squall could say no.

"Such sweet boys…" she said before whacking Squall in the shin with her cane. He didn't scream anything in pain, but it, needless to say, it _hurt_. He was rubbing the growing soreness in his shin. Bartz was trying his best to stifle his laughter, but the look on his face made it obvious he was doing a very, very poor job of it. Squall shot him a look that Bartz knew meant he was going to be target practice very, very soon.

~(-)~

Bartz and Squall were soon up to their necks in wrapped gifts for the various people on Grandma Jenova's Christmas List. When it was finally time for a break, it couldn't have come too soon for them as they plopped all of the gifts on the nearest empty table and flopped into the empty chairs.

"I never thought I'd say this… But I wish I was shopping with Rinoa…" Squall lamented.

"Ditto," Bartz agreed.

Bartz's phone began to ring.

"Seriously, Bartz?" Squall began. "Phoenix Wright's theme song?"

"What?" Bartz looked at the number appearing on his phone. It was Zidane. He picked it up instantly. "What's the situation?"

"Zidane?" Squall asked. Bartz nodded.

"The fever's _finally_ under control," Zidane answered, causing Bartz to sigh in relief. "They're currently sleeping. When they wake up, we'll ask what they saw."

"Cool. I'm counting on you."

"Of course!"

Bartz hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. "Good news, they're okay. They're just sleeping now." Squall nodded in acknowledgement. Bartz looked around. "Hey… Where'd Granny go?"

"She went to get us something to drink for all of our hard work."

"Oooh, I hope it's pink lemonade! I could really use some… or maybe a smoothie… Mnn… Nah, _definitely_ pink lemonade." Squall just rolled his eyes.

It wasn't long until they could hear the familiar squeaking wheels of Grandma Jenova's oxygen tank, even in all of the hustle and bustle of the mall. They turned to see that she had roped the Auntie Anne's worker into delivering their drinks. Bartz chuckled nervously. Grandma Jenova waddled over to an empty chair next to Bartz and, with difficulty, sat down in it.

"Thank you again, boys," she said as the worker gave Bartz and Squall their pink lemonades and Auntie Anne pretzels.

Between slurps of his drink, Bartz answered, "It was no problem, right, Squall?"

Squall rolled his eyes. _"Speak for yourself…"_

"There's something else I need you two to do for me…" she began.

"Shoot!" Bartz answered.

The weirdest thing then happened. Suddenly, the two of them weren't sure where they were. The room completely faded out to white. There were no tables, no chairs, no presents, no patrons… Just Bartz, Squall and… And…

The two of them couldn't believe it when they saw it.

"… Mother?" they answered in unison.

"Yes, boys…" she said, soft and sweet. "Your Mother…"

~(-)~

**Wow, a lot of stuff happened this chapter, didn't it? This chapter nearly hit six-thousand words. I think this might be one of the biggest chapters yet. Threw you a bit of a curve ball at the end there, though, didn't I?**

**Quick disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid, KAITO, Hatsune Miku, Target, Macy's, Sears, Gamestop, Call of Duty, The Legend of Zelda, Elder Scrolls, Kirby, Rayman, Hot Topic, Halmark, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, and Auntie Anne's.**

**Oh, quick shout out to The Unknowing Herald: You flatter me so. Really, I didn't do a whole lot. You should write because you like to, not because people read your story. Sure, it's nice to know people do read your story, but you should want to write because you want to write. Just saying.**

**One last bit of business: I've been thinking about changing the story title because its current one, "A New World; A New War," just isn't all that inspired. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything better. If you guys have ideas, I would love to hear them. Send me a PM or tell me your ideas in your review. If I choose it, I'll be sure to credit you in the next chapter.**

**Next time: Mother's here. Naughty children better behave, or else!**


	24. Mother

**Quick shout out to The Unknowing Herald for help in coming up with the new title. If you're recently joining us, this story was previously called "A New World; A New War." Personally, "Memoirs from a Mirror" is a lot more relevant, inspired, and mysterious.**

~(-)~

"_It… It was terrible._

_I never felt so violated before in my entire life. My most personal thoughts… My most private secrets… My most precious memories…_

_I could feel her claws peel away at the layers of my mind, stripping away all that made me who I am, until I could no longer tell what was up or down… me or them… reality or illusion…_

_But, you know what?_

_It's okay._

_Because, Mother loves me._

_And, I swore would do anything for her._

_Anything."_

~(-)~

Zidane felt the hairs on his tail bristle. _"Crap, here it comes…"_

"_My Warriors!"_ Cosmos called out to them over their mental link.

Zidane inwardly sighed and shook his head. _"Called it."_

"_Another one of Chaos's forces has Awakened!"_

Zidane, Vaan, Uncle Terra, and Aunt Aqua were sitting in the room Sora and Roxas were checked into after their fevers were finally calmed. They still had an elevated temperature, so the hospital wanted to keep them overnight for observation. Zidane grunted and inwardly cursed. It wasn't exactly easy to find a door that they could use to travel to the Sanctuary in the hospital. Sure, there were plenty of doors, but also plenty of people watching them. Not like they could explain away Crystals materializing in thin-air and doors magically changing their shape. They were good, but not _that_ good.

Roxas cracked open an eyelid. "C-Chaos…?"

Aqua and Terra were on him in a heart-beat, stroking his head to comfort him.

"There-there, Roxas…" Aqua said in her motherly voice. "Just go back to sleep. Everything's fine."

"No chaos here," Terra reassured.

Vaan and Zidane shot each other worried looks. Though they couldn't hear each other's thoughts, the same thing was on their minds: _"… He heard her?"_

Vaan nudged Sora's shoulder. He grunted and also cracked open his eyes. "Sora, did you hear Cosmos?" he whispered as quietly as he could so that his aunt and uncle couldn't hear.

"Y-Yeah…" Sora answered in his own whispered tone, though he wasn't doing it on purpose.

Vaan gave him a gentle pat, and Sora went back to sleep. Giving Zidane a concerned look, Zidane and Vaan headed for the door.

"Uncle Terra, Aunt Aqua, we'll be right back," Vaan started.

"Yeah, I'm getting kinda hungry," Zidane added, rubbing his tummy to help convince them.

Aqua nodded in acknowledgement. "Alright, dears. Do you need some money?"

"No! No, we're okay!" Vaan said, half-way out the door.

"Later!" Zidane finished as he closed the door behind them. Out in the hallway, the two of them looked up and down the hallway to check if the coast was clear. "Okay, where to?"

Vaan thought for a moment. "Let's see if we can't find an empty room. If not, we'll try for a sleeping patient without guests."

"Sounds good," Zidane agreed.

The two scoured the halls, though trying to look as casual as possible about it. No luck. All of the rooms they came across were full of patients. They had to hurry. Time was of the essence, after all. They had no choice but to use a room that had a sleeping patient. After just passing a room numbered 111, a nurse walked out, but turned back toward the room.

"Don't worry. The process will be over before you wake up," she said to the patient inside. She closed the door and continued on her way, passing by Zidane and Vaan. The two nodded in a hello, and she nodded in return.

Making sure the coast was clear, the two snuck into the patient's room. While the room was dark, they could see the patient sleeping in bed with various machines and their tubes laced all over the patient's body, drawing out… Eugh, they didn't want to look long enough to confirm.

They summoned their Crystals and presented them to the bathroom door within the room. The room was bathed in a golden light as the door transformed into the gold-and-white doors that lead them to the Sanctuary. They pushed the doors open and hurried inside as quickly as they could, hoping not to wake the sleeping patient.

~(-)~

Inside the Sanctuary, the duo found Cloud, Terra, and Tidus already waiting for them to arrive. Vaan and Terra hugged each other as a quick hello.

Zidane looked around the Sanctuary. "Where's Cosmos?"

She soon flashed into the Sanctuary. "Yes, Zidane?"

"Cosmos… We've got a problem…"

"Yes, it appears we do," she agreed.

"Ya see, about-" he stopped himself when he realized Cosmos agreed with him. "Wait, what're _you_ talking about?"

Cosmos shook her head. "I cannot seem to establish a connection with Bartz or Squall."

"What?" everyone blurted out in shock.

"What does that mean?" Vaan asked. "Are they okay?"

Cosmos nodded her head. "They are alive. Do not fret. However, it feels like… Something is blocking my attempts to establish a connection with them." When she saw the worried faces on Zidane and Vaan, she smiled to try and comfort them. "Do not worry. I shall keep trying. Oh, Zidane, what were you going to say?"

"Uh… Oh!" he remembered after Cosmos interrupted his train of thought. "… I think you somehow Awakened my cousins."

"What?" She shook her head. "That shouldn't be possible. They do not possess a Crystal."

"Yeah, but they've been getting their other memories. Oh, and they can hear you call now," Vaan added.

Cosmos took a moment to think about it. _"… Could it be…?"_ She shook her head. She wasn't sure, but she suspected she knew the answer. "At this time, I cannot say for certain. However, you have more pressing matters to attend to."

Zidane and Vaan bowed their heads, knowing Cosmos was right. Business now, questions later. The five of them summoned their Crystals, causing a brown Gate with a burning red Crest to appear. They touched the Crest, transporting inside to do battle with whomever Awakened.

~(-)~

Inside the Gate, the five entered a dark room with a tiled, glass floor. They could see a swirling energy beneath, consuming the light. Several pillars in the room created a make-shift hallway, and, in the distance, a staircase made of light ascended into more darkness. This place was none other than the World of Darkness. Despite its name, this place actually was actually rather nostalgic for Zidane, since this was where he, Bartz, and Squall made that legendary promise over a single feather. Terra, however, wasn't as thrilled to see this place. The Cloud of Darkness used her and forced her to fight against her friends. This room was as dark and cold as its name suggested to her.

"_Estuans interius, Ira vehementi_…~"

Cloud's heart sunk. _"That… That song! No… It couldn't be-"_

"_Estuans interius, Ira vehementi…_~"

Cloud quickly summoned his Buster Sword and charged. He didn't know where it was coming from. The song bounced around in the wind… taunting him, pestering him… He would have no parts of it. "SEPHIROTH! SHOW YOURSELF!" he demanded.

Still, the song persisted. "_Sephiroth! Sephiroth!_~" After the chant, laughter rang throughout the room, echoing eerily off of the floor and pillars. Everyone in the room shivered.

"Are you finished?" a voice asked. The room's acoustics made it impossible to determine where it was coming from.

The laughter rang out once more. "Yeah, yeah. I'm done."

Everyone lit up like a light.

"Wait, guys?" Zidane shouted, looking around.

"Bartz, Squall! That you?" Vaan asked.

"Bingo!" Bartz confirmed. Both Bartz and Squall jumped down from the pillars they were perched upon, landing elegantly on the floor below.

Everyone sighed a collective sigh of relief.

"Geeze, man, don't scare us like that," Zidane scolded as he walked over to them. "So, Sephiroth's the one Awake? Couldn't resist singing the theme song, could you?" he said while elbowing Bartz in the ribs.

Bartz scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, my bad… By the way, Zidane…" Bartz punched Zidane in the gut, sending him hurtling through one of the many pillars that littered the room. "It's not Sephiroth."

"Whoa… didn't see that coming," Tidus commented, jumping back in surprise.

"HEY!" Vaan shouted, running over to Zidane. Vaan was giving him an once-over to make sure he was okay. Zidane coughed furiously, trying to get the air back in his lungs after the punch knocked the wind out of him. "WHAT THE HELL, BARTZ?"

Bartz looked back at Vaan with the most sickeningly-sweet smile on his face. "Mother said naughty children should be punished."

When Cloud got a better look at them, his blood ran cold. He could see it! He could see it in their eyes… those eyes… Those were _his_ eyes… Mother…

"Oh god…" he said when the realization hit him.

"What?" Terra asked.

Cloud shook his head. "It's not Sephiroth! It's Jenova!" He pointed at them. "Their eyes… They're under her control!"

"You're kidding!" Vaan said in disbelief. Vaan cast a small Cure spell on Zidane to try and help him breathe.

Between coughs, Zidane choked out, "Wh-Where is she?"

"Go talk to a wall," Squall answered.

Zidane returned to his feet with a little help from Vaan. "You idiots! Your mothers are dead!"

"Don't listen to Jenova's lies!" Vaan added.

"NO!" Bartz and Squall screamed in denial.

"Mother is here now! She'll never abandon us again!" Squall started.

"Mother loves us, and we promised we would do anything for her!" Bartz finished.

"Th-They're delusional!" Vaan blurted out in shock.

"I can't believe they let themselves be fooled so easily!" Zidane agreed.

Cloud had enough. He was going to make them open their eyes, one way or another. He charged and slashed the air, creating a small vacuum that drew in the two of them. Instead of dodging, Bartz simply caught the sword in his bare hand and held firm. As hard as Cloud tried, he couldn't lodge it free from Bartz's grip.

"You're the worst of Mother's children… You hear her, but you ignore her… Mother wants you to suffer for you insolence," Bartz hissed, hate and venom nearly dripping from every word.

"Who's that speaking? You or Jenova?" Cloud retorted.

"We speak for Jenova's will!" Bartz and Squall answered together. Squall dipped into his magic pool and called forth a Thunder spell, drawing Cloud into range. When he was close, Squall and Bartz double teamed him with repeated slashes from two Revolvers. After the first part of the attack was done, Squall then sent Cloud flying with three more slashes as the two gave chase. Squall gave Cloud a revolving kick powered by the recoil of his sword, while Bartz charged his fists with energy and punched Cloud into the invisible barrier that encompassed the arena. Cloud crashed hard into the forcefield, sticking to the invisible wall for a few moments before peeling off and falling face-first into the ground.

"Cloud!" Terra shouted, running over to him to heal him from the damage.

"YOU BASTARDS!" Tidus yelled before using his strong legs to jump up to them, his sword glowing with energy.

"Tidus! Calm down!" Vaan and Zidane shouted, but it was too late. Bartz pulled out his own mimicked version of Tidus's sword and swiped through and back. Squall timed another revolving kick so that Bartz would catch Tidus coming down with the spear part of the attack, sending him back upwards. Getting a boost from Bartz, Squall then jumped up and started attacking Tidus furiously in the air, sending him plummeting down with one final pull of the trigger. Tidus landed so hard that he left a crater in the ground.

Terra just finished healing Cloud when Tidus landed hard on the ground. "Cloud, grab Tidus. I'll cover you!"

"Got it."

Terra dipped into her vast magic supply and sent the energies heavenward. In response, several burning rocks fell from the sky in a scattered area, completely at random. Squall scattered gunpowder around himself and Bartz and triggered the explosion, protecting them from the falling meteors. Cloud made it over to Tidus and slung him over his shoulder. Squall noticed that the Meteors were just a distraction and cursed himself for being so careless. Bartz and Squall adjusted their decent so that Squall was now headed for Cloud and Tidus and Bartz for Terra.

Vaan and Zidane would have no parts of that.

"Vaan!" Zidane shouted. Vaan looked back at his brother, knowing what he was thinking.

"The Super Monkey Ball?" Vaan asked.

"The Super Monkey Ball," Zidane confirmed.

Vaan whipped out his spear and Zidane did his best to balance on its tip. Using all of his strength, Vaan flung Zidane as if he was playing lacrosse and Zidane was the puck. Zidane summoned his own type of magic as it cloaked him in a pink energy, spinning as his daggers raked Squall's side, and then sending them both into the ground. Zidane did his best to pin Squall down as Cloud made his way back toward Terra.

While all of that was going on, Terra and Bartz were engaged in a war of spells. Holy and Hellfire clashed with Meltdown and Thundara. Flood and Flare, Ultima and Blizzara… Neither side was budging. When Bartz noticed Cloud was closing in, Bartz switched the target of his spells to them. Terra intercepted the spells and protected them all with a particularly strong Shell spell. Bartz spat in frustration. Terra gave Tidus a quick Cure spell. She didn't have the time to heal him properly considering they were still pinned down by Bartz as he lobbed a crescent-shaped projectile of Holy energy at them. Cloud gathered his own energy into his sword and cut the projectile in half. Tidus awoke and coughed out the blood that made it into his lungs.

"Man… these guys are tough!" he choked out. "I think I preferred it when they were on our side!"

Squall kicked Zidane off of him. Vaan put away his spear and summoned a green crest, conjuring a tornado. The strong winds distracted Bartz and Squall enough for the others to regroup.

"What should we do?" Terra asked, looking at Vaan and Zidane with concern. Bartz was their brother and Squall was their best friend. It was difficult for them to fight against them, and the longer that the fight went on, the harder it was going to get.

"I have a plan," Cloud started. Everyone gave him their attention while Bartz and Squall began to recover from the tornado. "Vaan, you're with me. We're going to take them on head on."

"What? You can't be serious!" Vaan shook his head. "You _saw_ how well that was working out."

"Terra will be covering us with her spells," he answered rather matter-of-factly. "Besides, Tidus and Zidane have a more important job to take care of."

"What?" they asked together.

"You're going to find and stop Jenova."

Terra was the first to understand the plan. "Oh! I see! You're using Tidus and Zidane's superior agility to get them to escape and find Jenova while we keep Bartz and Squall distracted here, correct?"

Cloud nodded. "Jenova should still be here somewhere. She may be in one of the other areas watching us. If we can stop her, her hold over them should also break."

Tidus pounded his fists together. "Leave it to us!"

Bartz and Squall finally escaped from Vaan's twister and were now heading for the group once more.

"GO!" Cloud ordered, causing everyone to begin their assignments. Terra started by calling down a Thundaga to restrict Bartz and Squall's movements, while Vaan and Cloud double-teamed Squall. Vaan pulled out his staff, commanding it to spin around him at high speeds and hit Squall while Cloud slashed horizontally twice, then charging his sword with an orange energy, running Squall through five more times before one final slash created a small explosion that sent Squall hurtling into the floor. Zidane and Tidus made their way toward the glowing staircase at the other end of the room that would lead them to one of the other areas in the World of Darkness, but Bartz was hot on their tail. Terra unleashed another barrage of Meteors to fall around where Bartz was, forcing Bartz to head on the defensive. While Bartz was distracted, Terra launched several Holy pearls at him. When it connected, she followed up with several Flare shots and then encased him an Ultima spell, also sending him straight into the ground.

Squall and Bartz picked themselves up and regrouped. Tidus and Zidane were already too far ahead for them to catch. "You'll pay for that," Squall swore, wiping the blood that began to trickle from his mouth. Squall charged his blade with blue energy and propelled himself forward while Bartz sent magic into the floor, casting Flood beneath Vaan, Cloud, and Terra's feet.

~(-)~

Tidus and Zidane ran up the transparent staircase that twisted upwards into the dark abyss. They didn't know where it was going, but they hoped wherever that was, it was where Jenova was hiding. The others were counting on them to stop her and free Bartz and Squall from her control. Every so often, they would come across Manikins on the path. They would quickly dispatch them by sending them over the side and continue on their way. They had to guess they were on the right path if they were encountering resistance.

At the top of the staircase, they entered an area where several, transparent, crystal platforms hovered in a dark space. There was no floor below them. They had no idea how high up they were, but they figured they were _very_ high up since they couldn't see the bottom. They climbed up onto a higher, crystal ledge than the one they were on. They saw a main platform in the center, and a non-crystal entity standing in the middle of it. She had gray skin, sunken, glowing, red eyes, silver hair that partially obscured her right eye, and a metal helmet with a plate that bore her name, Jenova. Normally, Zidane would be all for shirtless women, but this one was an exception. He wanted to do nothing more than carve her eyes out for hurting the people he cared about.

Jenova seemed aware of their presence. "Ah, it seems my children let some flies through to see Mother." She raised one of her arms and shot a red laser in their direction. Tidus and Zidane tried to take cover on the lower section of crystal, but the crystal was semi-permeable as the laser shot through it anyway. Fortunately, the two still managed to dodge, but only by the slimmest of margins.

"Okay, that's not going to work," Tidus commented.

Zidane got an idea. "Hey, if she can shoot through it, maybe we can too!" Zidane threw his daggers into the air, shooting his own laser beams from their tips. Jenova threw up a Reflect barrier, causing the lasers to bounce off of them. Tidus used this opportunity to get out his Blitzball. He kicked it at her, but it, too, bounced off her shield.

"Is that all?" she asked, believing that they had no chance against her.

Tidus prepared himself for the rebound. "You wish!" He kicked it a second time with more force. It again bounced off her shield, but this time, a small stress fracture appeared. On the final rebound, Tidus spun around, gathering energy for one, final kick as it blasted through her shield, shattering it, and catching her, sending her careening into one of the crystal platforms.

"How'd you like that?" Tidus shouted, believing he just won.

Jenova just smirked. She gripped the crystal platform she was knocked into and flipped around elegantly, landing on the top. "Such naughty children," she scolded, shaking her head. "Mother will have to punish." She raised her arms and shot out four lasers this time at the two of them. Zidane and Tidus artfully dodged them like the slippery weasels they were, and, while she was still recovering from the attack, Tidus closed the distance between her and him by casting Hastaga on him and Zidane, then charging, sword first, at her, knocking her away. Zidane then latched his tail onto Tidus's leg, and Tidus read his play. He spun around several times in air to build up momentum for Zidane and then kicked him out, sending Zidane rocketing at Jenova. Cloaking himself in a pink energy, he hurled straight into Jenova, ready to give her a taste of his Super Monkey Ball technique. However, when he got a better look at her, she seemed rather… familiar to him.

The dark room faded away. He could see nothing but white all around him. He panicked.

"Wh-Where am I?"

"You're here with me, my child…"

He turned in the direction of the voice and nearly hit the floor when he saw her. She had emerald-green hair that grew to about the middle of her back, caramel-brown eyes, fair skin, and a simple, yellow dress under a red jacket.

"… Mom?" Zidane asked, completely unable to believe it.

She nodded. "Yes, dear. Mother is here, and I shall never leave you again."

It was the happiest day of Zidane's life. Mother was back! Mother was here! He ran to her, tears flowing from his eyes as he gave her the biggest hug he could.

"Mom… I missed you so much… We missed you so much…" he choked out between sobs.

She stroked his head lovingly. "Bartz already knows I'm here, my dear. It hurt him so much to fight you, but he always knew you'd open your eyes to the truth."

He looked up at her with his deep, blue eyes swollen from crying. "Promise us you'll never leave?"

She nodded. "I promise, as long as you can do something for me."

"Anything, Mother! Anything!"

She whispered gingerly into his ear, "Destroy Cosmos… Destroy her Champions… Destroy this world, and we'll never be apart again…"

He hesitated for a moment. Something… Something about that wasn't right. He knew it. He felt it in the pit of his heart. _"Mom wouldn't ask me to do this... Right? Right?"_

She could sense his hesitation and his longing. She presented him a black feather. "Take this, and I will always be with you."

A feather… it was always such an important treasure to Bartz and Squall. A feather always seemed to lead them back to each other. Was this Mother's way of promising? He took the feather, and, in doing so, the feather dissolved into his hand. His head suddenly got really, really hot. He doubled over, clutching his head in pain. Everything started to get fuzzy. His thoughts seemed to collapse on themselves the longer he looked at his Mother. He could no longer tell if he was thinking at this point. He only knew that Mother was here, and he needed her. _"No… I must! Mother will leave me alone if I don't! I love my Mother! I want to stay with her forever!"_

"… I promise," he finally answered. "I promise I'll destroy everything… for you."

She gave him one last pat on the head as a lone, black wing extended from her back. "Good, my child. Go forth, and destroy."

"Yes, Mother," he answered, his eyes transforming into cat-like pupils…

~(-)~

To Tidus, the only thing he saw was Zidane beginning to plummet before he could finish his attack on Jenova. Tidus hurriedly crossed platforms to catch back up with Zidane. He was falling too fast. Tidus wasn't sure if he could make it in time. He jumped with all of his might and caught Zidane by the tail. Normally, Zidane would "protest loudly" at his (second) most precious extremity being yanked like that, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Tidus pulled up his unconscious body and laid him flat on the platform.

"Come on, man!" Tidus started, shaking Zidane vigorously. "Now's not the time for a nap!"

Zidane's eyes shot open, and Tidus's heart sunk. "Y-Your eyes-!" Before Tidus could react, Zidane quickly raised his daggers and forcefully split them apart, blasting a surge of energy in Tidus's face. The force sent Tidus flying over the edge of the platform as he began the bone-crushing decent into the never-ending black abyss below, screaming all the way.

~(-)~

Despite the odds being slightly more in Cloud, Vaan, and Terra's favor, the three of them were being pinned down by the superior teamwork of Bartz and Squall. The two of them always had a weird sort of synergy and being brainwashed only seemed to help matters. Cloud focused on Squall and Vaan on Bartz. Vaan countered Bartz's lance swipe with his twirling spear, but Bartz then retaliated by charging Cecil's paladin lance with Holy energy, slicing the air with the holy shard. Terra raised a water geyser, redirecting the shard upwards into the endlessly, black sky.

The two warring factions backed off each other to regroup for a moment. Cloud pulled out a red Materia shooting forward three Firaga balls. Terra and Vaan gathered up Fira and Pyroclasm magick in their hands and chucked the fireballs at the two of them. Bartz whipped out Cecil's Dark Knight lance, charging it with Darkness. Squall rotated the revolver chamber until the red bullet was ready to be fired and pulled the trigger. The two combined the energies, cloaking each other, protecting each other from the magical attacks as they charged blade-first toward their adversaries. Everyone dodged out of the way in time, but the two of them combined their efforts and turned faster than Vaan anticipated. He couldn't get away in time and caught the brunt of their attack in the gut. The combined energies ravaged his body.

He was sure he was screaming. His body was being torn apart by opposing magicks, after all, but he couldn't hear himself. He could see Terra and Cloud screaming his name, but he couldn't hear them. It was eerily quiet to him. No sound anywhere. Quiet… So, very, very quiet… He was fixated on the two doing this to him. He figured if he was going to die by a Chaos Warrior, it would have probably been Kefka, or Sephiroth… But, to be killed by his own brother and best friend? The thought never crossed his mind. Vaan couldn't help but blame himself for this. If he was here faster, could he have stopped it from happening? If he was stronger, could he have saved them? He wasn't the leading man. The leading man was a hero, and heroes never die. Yet, here he was, the last moments of his life, slipping away into the endless abyss beneath the crystal-glass floor…

Squall and Bartz ended their tandem attack by launching Vaan through several pillars and into the invisible barrier that lined the arena. Vaan's eyes were glazed over as he flopped over, bleeding profusely.

Terra couldn't believe what she just saw… And she couldn't believe who did it. _"No… No! It can't end like this… It can't!"_ She could feel her magic boiling. Her body was getting hot. She couldn't control it anymore. "VAAAAAAAAAN!" She transformed, shedding her human form for her esper body, causing her magic to reach its peak. Her eyes burned with fury, and her claws hungered for blood. She flew towards them, snarling like a mad beast.

Cloud was at a loss for what to do. Vaan was dying. Terra was on a rampage. Two of their allies were under the enemy's control, and he had no idea what was going on with the others. He regretted now splitting them up. It was a terrible move on his part. He greatly over-estimated his and Vaan's abilities while greatly under-estimated Bartz and Squall's, and now they were paying for it. Terra continued to fire off spell after spell, giving no pause or inch in her frenzied state. Still, even with Terra's increased magical abilities, Bartz and Squall were keeping pace, working off of each other's strengths and covering each other's weaknesses. Squall would defend them with his many anti-Sorceress techniques, and Bartz would use his mimicked skills to throw everything Terra threw at them with interest.

Cloud carefully made his way to the brutalized body of Vaan, dodging stray spells in the process. Flipping him around, he got a full look at the extent of his damage. His gut was torn open and deep wounds covered him from head to toe. Even if Cloud had Cure Materia handy, he didn't have the magical skill needed to repair this kind of damage. Only Bartz, Terra, and Cosmos did, one of which was brainwashed, one of which was unable to control herself, and last of which wasn't here to heal him. He had potions, but they wouldn't be enough for this. Still, he poured whatever potions he had handy on Vaan's wounds. The magical liquid tried to repair the damage, but it was just too much as many of the gashes persisted.

"Vaan! Vaan!" It was a desperate plea, but there wasn't much else he could do at the moment. "Come on… Don't die on me! Your brother needs you!" Nothing. Vaan remained as motionless as before.

Suddenly, Cloud could hear screaming coming from above. He couldn't begin to fathom why. His glowing, blue eyes scanned the blackened sky for the answer. That was when he saw it: Tidus plummeting to his doom from on high. Reacting as quickly as he could, he climbed one of the few pillars that remained intact and waited at the top.

The maneuver didn't escape the unstoppable duo's eyes, even when being pinned down by Terra's furious assault. Whatever he had planned, they were going to make sure it failed. Terra launched a fully charged Meltdown at the two of them, but they were going to use it toward their advantage. Bartz dipped into his secret stash of moves, drawing upon Tidus's infamous and once-thought-impossible to replicate Jecht Shot. Spinning around in the air, Bartz gathered the necessary energy in his foot, just like he saw Tidus himself do over and over, and kicked the Meltdown at the pillar Cloud was standing on.

The miniature sun plowed through the pillar, causing the pillar to being to collapse. Cloud had no choice but to use all of his strength and jump. He had hoped that it would be enough to catch Tidus and land safely.

Terra followed the reflected Meltdown's path, noticing Cloud jump with all of his might into the air. When she saw Tidus falling, she finally regained enough of herself to snap out of her rage and flew up to help Cloud. When she was in range, she cast Float on the two of them, slowing Tidus's decent and allowing Cloud to catch him without difficulty.

"Tidus, what happened? Where's Zidane?" he asked.

"Cloud! We got trouble! She got him!" he shook his head, cursing himself for putting Zidane in that situation. "She got Zidane! Cloud, what do we do?"

He honestly had no idea. They were backed into a figurative corner. Any one of them could be next, and Cloud suspected that, if any of them were to fall next, it would be him. He fell prey to manipulation by his own cells before. They had no choice: They had to retreat.

"Terra, prepare a Teleport spell. Tidus, open an path and grab Vaan. I'll cover you the best I can."

Tidus grabbed Cloud's collar. "We're turning tail? You can't be serious!"

"We don't have a choice, Tidus. Vaan's nearly dead, and we can't even handle Bartz and Squall. If Zidane shows up, we're probably all dead, or worse." He shook off the thoughts of falling to Jenova's mind tricks. "If we fall here, nothing is going to stop them from destroying the planet, and we can't let that happen. We. Must. Retreat."

Tidus didn't like it, but Cloud was right. They were outmatched, and things were only going to get worse if they stayed. Tidus cast Hastega on the three of them, zipping between Bartz's magical volleys as Terra prepared her spell with Cloud covering their movements with as many meteors, wind blades, and fire balls as he could manage. After what seemed like an eternity, the group finally made their way toward Vaan as Terra completed her Teleport spell. Using her increased magical powers, they managed to break through the seal that normally prevented Warriors from leaving a Gate while a battle was in progress. They managed to teleport just in time as Bartz and Squall swiped at empty air a moment after they left.

Squall spat in frustration. "They're gone."

Bartz hummed in annoyance. "Aw, and I was just beginning to have fun, too."

"Don't worry, my children…" the two of them turned to see that Jenova was walking down the stairs with their new "brother."

"Zidane!" Bartz exclaimed happily. "You found Mother!"

Zidane ran up to Bartz and gave him a big hug. "Of course! Mother opened my eyes! And now, we can be together!"

When Jenova made her way toward the three of them, she gave them all a big hug. "You did well, my children."

"But, they got away, Mother," Bartz said, ashamed.

Jenova shook her head and patted Bartz's head. "They may have fled for now," she began, pointing her hand toward the sky. "But, they have opened the door for us."

The three of them hugged Jenova, truly believing she was their mother in their blissful state of delusion. "We love you, Mother," the three responded in unison.

"And, Mother loves you as well," she answered, soft and sweet, just as a mother would.

Suddenly, one jet, black wing erupted from each of their backs…

~(-)~

**So, you guys see why I was excited to write this chapter?**

**I want to thank my friend for helping me come up with how the Jenova cells got introduced into their bodies. You know who you are if you're reading this story. You are reading this story, aren't you? AREN'T YOU? Damnit, Mother commands you! DO NOT MAKE MOTHER ANGRY! (**

**Okay, I'm going to say this before I forget: … There will probably be a named OC appearing in a later chapter. Don't worry though, he doesn't have a major role in the story, he probably won't appear more than once or twice, and he is not a self-insert Mary Sue who gets every one of the main characters to fall for him (or at least I hope he's not a Mary Sue-er-Gary Stu). If you'd rather I keep the OCs away, then let me know. I'll try to find a different character to fill this guy's role.**

**Oh, one of these days, I'll draw up what I imagine many of the characters' casual looks look like… As long as you don't mind looking at my terrible doodles, that is.**

**Next time: Assault on HQ! Team 589 united under Chaos! Reunion draws near as Cosmos's forces are at the brink of despair.**


	25. The Pride of Chaos

"_How far would you go to save the ones you love?"_

~(-)~

A light materialized in Cosmos's Sanctuary. Cosmos instinctively rose from her throne in hopes of getting a better angle at what was coming. Emerging from the light was Tidus, Cloud, Terra, and Vaan in Cloud's arms, heavily beaten and drained of energy. Using most of her magic to make it this far, Terra's form shifted back to normal. Cloud hurried to the throne and put him down as gently as he could in it.

Cosmos couldn't believe the brutality. "… What happened?" They all closed their eyes and bowed their heads, ashamed of themselves for being unable to do anything.

"Heal him, and we'll explain," Cloud answered.

Cosmos used her powers on Vaan as Cloud and Tidus recounted the events of what occurred in the Gate: How they fought Bartz and Squall, how Jenova controlled their minds, and how they lost another of their own to her spell.

She shook her head in disbelief. "I cannot believe it." Though, looking at the damage they sustained, it had to be true. "How?"

Cloud sighed. "I know a thing or two about Jenova's powers. She makes you see things… Things you want… Things you fear… Whatever's the best way to control you."

"I see…" she answered. Vaan began coughing as the healing magic did its work. He struggled to get up, but Cosmos gently pushed him back down. "Vaan, you need to rest. You are still heavily injured."

Vaan lazily looked around. He was still mostly out of it. Terra ran over to him and grabbed his gauntleted hand and rubbed it against her face. "You're alive…"

He coughed. "Yeah… Not for lack of trying, though," he wheezed, cracking a small smile. Even talking hurt like a bitch. His whole body screamed in pain, but it was all over… right? He was in Cosmos's Sanctuary, but where was Bartz? Where was Squall? … Where was Zidane?

Terra could sense the questions on his mind. "Vaan…" she said as the tears built up in her eyes, her voice cracking from the strain. "We lost."

"Wh-What?" Despite the many protests of Cosmos, Terra, and his own body, he sat up, though he immediately regretted the decision as he doubled back over in pain. Blood started to trickle out of his mouth. He was nowhere close to fully healed as Cosmos and Terra tried to lay him back down. He soon swatted their hands away. "Tell me what happened."

His look was so serious and commanding; Terra felt no choice but obligated to answer. "Jenova got Zidane as well. Squall and Bartz pushed us all into a corner. We had no choice but to retreat."

Vaan couldn't believe it. They failed._ He_ failed. The most important battle they came across yet, and they choked at the most crucial time. He punched Cosmos's throne hard, and, as stupid as it was to do that with his broken and mangled body, he really didn't care. _"Some brother I am…"_

"Where are they?" he demanded to know.

Before anyone could answer, an explosion rocked the barrier and that surrounded atop which tower the Sanctuary rested. The inhabitants all braced themselves while the quaking subsided. Cosmos used her energies to form a globe of water to take a look at what was happening outside. On the small cliff that pointed toward the Isles of Harmony, there they were: Bartz, Squall, Zidane, and Jenova with an army of crystal behind them.

Cloud began to sweat. When he saw them, behind Bartz's right shoulder, and the others' left ones, one jet-black wing extended from their backs. "Oh god… They have _wings_…"

"I'm going to guess that's bad…" Tidus asked.

Cloud shook his head, not wanting to believe it. "… I'm not sure we _can_ save them now. They're entering the final stages of Reunion."

"And…" Tidus gulped, not really sure he wanted to know the answer. "That means?"

"… Jenova's cells have fully integrated into their DNA." The tone of his voice grew cold. "… They belong to _her_ now."

"Waaaaaaarriors…" Bartz called out through the globe in a taunting way, clanging together three empty potion bottles on his fingers. "Come out to plaaaaaaaaaay~"

Tidus cringed. "Normally, I'm all for Bartz referencing something for laughs, but this is just _wrong_."

Another explosion rocked the tower. From the globe, everyone could see the three of them commanding the Manikins to attack the tower with their many, though weak, attacks. The barrier couldn't take much more pressure.

Cloud punched the floor, cursing himself for making yet another tactical error. "Damnit, we're sitting ducks, here!"

Vaan tried to stand, clutching his side in pain. Terra tried to sit him back down. "Vaan, you need to rest-"

"There's no time to rest!" he yelled. He sighed, not meaning to sound so harsh. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "No, you're right. We have work to do." She took his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder doing her best to help support his weight. They conjured a teleport stone to take them outside.

"And, what are you going to do?" Cloud asked. Terra and Vaan turned in his direction. "We don't stand a chance against them."

Vaan wheezed as many laughs as his aching body would allow. "Sheesh, Cloud. Pessimistic much?" He clutched his side again to try and make the pain subside. "I'm the leading man, and the leading man never dies."

"… Do you at least have a _plan_?"

"Yeah: Not die."

Tidus chuckled. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

Vaan turned back toward Cosmos. "How good are you at healing at a distance?"

"Fairly," she answered.

Vaan nodded. "Good, because we're going to need as much as you can give us."

"… What are you going to do about _them_?" Cloud asked.

Vaan shook his head, not wanting to say what he was about to say. "If we have no choice_ but_ to kill them to stop them, then we will." Everyone was taken aback by _Vaan_, of all people, to suggest doing such a thing. He sighed. "Look, I know my brothers. If they knew what they were doing, they would want to be stopped by any means necessary. I'm sure Squall's the same way. If the moment comes: Do. Not. Hesitate."

"… Y-You can't be serious?" Terra blurted out in shock. "They're your brothers!"

"I KNOW!" he shouted, feeling the pressure build up in his eyes. "… I know…" He rubbed his eyes, wiping away any forming tears. "But, there are things more important than family… Reks knew that. I know that." He took a moment to calm himself. "Okay, this is how we'll play it: Terra, you focus on Zidane. His aerial skills are good, so keep him grounded." Terra nodded in acknowledgement. "Tidus, you take care of Squall. His attacks are fast, but precise. Your agility should give you the slight edge."

Tidus nodded. "Got it."

"I'm guessing you want me to take care of Bartz?" Cloud asked.

Vaan nodded his head. "But, be careful: Bartz is a wild card. His Mime powers allow him to mimic all of our attacks. He hasn't even scratched the surface of what he can do. The good news is he doesn't know those attacks as well as the ones he usually uses, so a break in concentration will break those attacks. The bad news: Jenova's probably the one thinking for him, so that might not be so easy."

"So, try to focus on both Bartz and Jenova?" Cloud asked, guessing at what Vaan was thinking.

Vaan nodded. "Exactly."

"What about you?" Terra asked.

He cracked a smile. "I'm going Modern Warfare on this bitch. I can't face them head on, but I _can_ provide a different kind of support." He released himself from Terra's support. "You guys're on the front lines. I'll be sniping from a distance. Oh! One more thing, when you get in, destroy the Warp Stone."

"Why?" they asked.

"I'll be warping around myself, and they'll probably figure that out. I don't think Jenova can use them, but the others can. At least this way, I can retreat if someone breaks away from the pack. Try to keep them off me the best you can."

"Aren't you worried about… you know…?" Tidus asked.

Vaan sighed. "This is a risk we _have_ to take." He scanned their faces. "Hey, I don't like it any more than you guys do."

The four of them put their hands to the warp crystal, each connecting their minds to their desired Warp Crystal. Terra, Cloud, and Tidus connected to the one in Cornelia, the crystal closest to the tower and where the enemy had gathered. Vaan connected to Provaka, which was to the east of Cornelia. Having mentally secured their positions, they each flashed out of the Sanctuary. Cosmos began sending as much magic as she could spare, praying everyone would return safely.

~(-)~

Terra, Cloud, and Tidus flashed in at the ruined Castle Cornelia, right behind the crystal army that Jenova and the three of them gathered. Bartz, Squall, and Zidane turned when they saw a bright light appear from behind them.

Bartz hummed in surprise. "Hoooooh~ It seems the children could come out and play today." He pulled out his mimed Revolver and The Orge. "Good, because I was getting tired of waiting."

Zidane materialized his Mage Mashers. "Sucks that you're making us get in the hard way. Come on, we just want to see Cosmos! Why won't you let us in?" he whined.

Tidus rolled his eys. "I dunno, maybe it has something to do with the fact that you guys are COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR MINDS!"

Bartz turned to Zidane. "I have no idea what he's talking about."

"Me neither," he agreed.

Squall summoned his Revolver and pointed its silver-blade at their three "enemies." "The only ones crazy here are you. We're doing what Mother wants because it's the right thing to do."

"Really, Squall," Cloud started while summoning his Buster Sword. "I expected so much better from you."

"_Seriously_! What happened to the 'infamously, stubborn lion'?" Tidus whined in agreement.

"I'll slit your throats just to make your tongue stop spitting lies," Squall hissed.

Tidus felt the hairs on his neck stand on end. "… Oh, there it is…"

Terra dipped into her pool of magic and called upon her Ultima spell, encasing the Warp Stone in the purple-and-white energies, then clasping her hands together, forcing the spell to explode and shatter the Stone. No one was going anywhere; she was making sure of that. _"I hope you know what you're doing, Vaan."_

~(-)~

Vann materialized in the ruins of a small town by an empty Gate with a small islet of water. He waded through the shallow canal to get to the beach on the other side of some mountains. He pulled out one his lesser-used weapons, a small, basic wooden bow and arrows, and aimed at the rainbow-assortment of crystal-men that gathered by Cosmos' tower. He saw that the others have already begun to engage the enemy from the barrage of light and the dull clatter of metal-on-metal-on-crystal.

"Shame I don't got a sniper rifle," he lamented. "But, this is gonna have to do. … Hope Fran taught me enough." He ran through the mental check-list of how to use a bow. "Okay… stock arrow… check… Pull back… check… Aim… check… compensate for wind and distance… Aaaaaand… FIRE!" he released the string, and the arrow was sent flying through the air toward the crystal army.

The shot pierced the horned, crystalline head of a False Hero, a manikin of the nameless Warrior, causing it to shatter as its "life" was snuffed out before it knew what had hit it.

"BOOM, HEADSHOT!" Tidus shouted happily as he just back-flipped, dodging a powerful, revolving kick from Squall.

Soon, more arrows were soaring through the air, turning the crystal army into Swiss cheese in a matter of moments with a high-degree of accuracy. Bartz, Squall, and Zidane took cover behind Jenova as she erected a barrier to protect the four of them from the surprise assault.

Jenova spat in frustration. "It seems as though your 'brother' is still alive."

Bartz bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Mother. I should have finished him when I had the chance."

"Yes, you should have," she scolded. "He is not your brother anymore, my child. That was the illusion that Cosmos casted over your eyes."

Bartz unfurled his wing. "I'll make it up to you! I'll go kill him now!"

She smiled. "Make your Mother proud!" With that, Bartz began to take off.

"I DON'T THINK SO!" Cloud shouted as his sword burned with a blue-ish energy. It pulled him forward toward Bartz. Bartz turned to see Cloud charging straight for him, catching him in the side, and then sending them both toward the earth. Bartz let out a small scream of agony as the energy tore his flesh as he crashed into the ground. Getting up from the dust cloud formed when they hit the ground, Cloud could see the fury in Bartz's eyes.

"How _dare_ you…" he spat. "You have _some_ nerve… First, you ignore Mother… Now, you prevent _me_ from doing what Mother wants…" In his anger, three stars materialized over his head as his cape changed from silver to red. However, his hair also changed from its usual brown to silver-white and his eyes changed from caramel-brown to mint-green… Exactly the same as Sephiroth. "You're _dead_!"

"_Damnit, it's getting worse!"_ Cloud mentally swore. It seemed that Bartz wasn't the only one who's emotions have reached a fevered-pitch, as both Squall and Zidane's appearances have changed. They, too, triggered their "EX Mode," but, like Bartz, their powered-up forms were different, corrupted, versions of their normal modes: they had the same silver-white hair and the same mint-green cat eyes as their "brother." Squall's normally-blue Leonheart was now black and gray as well, with the silver Griver turning black to reflect Squall's blackened wing. The three of them leapt high into the air, preparing to strike hard with a vengeance.

"Ooooooh, this is bad," Tidus remarked.

Terra quickly cast a Flood spell in front of them for defense, causing the three of them to back off. Another arrow flew through the air, catching Bartz wing. He shrieked as the arrow embedded itself in his feathers. He pulled it out with a swear, then pulled out his own mimicked version of Firion's red bow, and stocked an energy arrow, firing it off toward Vaan's position.

Vaan saw the glowing arrow incoming. "OH SHIT-!" He dove out of the way as the arrow exploded in the mountain side. Vaan clutched his side at the pain started to come back. "Damnit…" he wheezed as he coughed up a bit of blood. With his current position compromised, he waded back through the water toward the Teleport Stone.

Vaan teleported to the Western Keep which was to the west of the battle. He, again, pulled out his bow and took aim. The three of them were keeping Jenova covered with their bodies. He could shoot them, but, if he missed, he would have to move again or dodge another incoming attack from Bartz or Zidane. His body, while holding together for now, was still in pretty bad shape. He just needed that one shot… That one, clear shot on Jenova.

"Come on, guys… Give me something…" he prayed to his companions as his bow was prime and ready for the shot he so desperately wanted to make.

Tidus chucked a Blitzball at Squall's face only for Squall to slice it in half with his oversized, orange-energy-infused sword. "HEY! That was my favorite ball, you jerk! It was signed and everything!"

"Tidus, this is serious," Cloud scolded.

"Sorry," Tidus responded, a trickle of sweat running down the side of his cheek. "I joke when I'm nervous…"

Terra was blown back after blocking a combined laser-blast from Zidane and Jenova. She got up panting. "I'm running low on energy. I don't think I have much left in me."

Cloud pulled out his Firaga Materia and shot off three fireballs at their adversaries, but it did little more than to annoy them as Bartz just swatted away the fireballs like they were flies. "Dig deep. We can't afford to lose this!"

"Psh… Your mission isn't righteous like ours is, Cloud," Bartz started. "This world is a farce. Mother is just cleansing it for the good of the universe." He extended his hand, giving Cloud the most gentle smile that could only appear on Bartz's face. If it weren't for the fact that Cloud knew he was completely insane at the moment, he would have taken that hand. "Join us, Cloud. Mother will forgive you! Mother still has the ability to love you!"

"Sorry." Cloud swatted away Bartz's hand with his sword. "But, NOT INTERESTED!"

Bartz spat, caressing the sharp blow to his wrist. "Fine, then die like the rest of the flith!"

Cloud swung his sword in front of him, intending to slice Bartz in two. However, instead of carving flesh, Cloud just swiped at air as Bartz disappeared in a flash of black feathers. Bartz then rematerialized behind Cloud. Cloud could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He knew where he was, but he wasn't fast enough to do anything about it. Bartz summoned the blue octahedron ring around himself. One by one, they disappeared as Cloud felt a thousand fists pound into his back with each disappearing shape. When the final one disappeared, Cloud was sent flying into the barrier that surrounded Cosmos's Sanctuary. Cloud was sure he felt something break upon impact. Immense pain radiated throughout his body. He soon blacked out just to protect himself from any more pain.

"CLOUD!" Terra and Tidus shouted.

"NO!" Vaan shouted from his position. _"Damnit… DAMNIT!"_ He fired. He didn't want to do what he was trying to do now, but he had no choice. The arrow soared through the air and got Bartz in the side. Bartz shouted a shrill cry in pain as his once-pristine sky-blue shirt started to stain an ugly brown from his blood. He looked out toward the direction the arrow came from and snarled.

"VAAAAAN!" he screamed. "YOU'RE DEAD!"

Sweat began to pour down his face. His knees began to shake. His breath became ragged. He tried to stock another arrow, but his shaking hands were making it impossible to use the bow properly. He slapped his own face, just hoping the pain will snap him out of the fear. "Calm down, Vaan. Now's not the time to turn yellow." He took a deep breath and steadied himself. His hands were now cooperating again as he readied another shot. _"I'm sorry for this."_ He fired another round.

However, this time, they were ready for it. Zidane deflected the shot with a quick split of his Ogre back into the individual Mage Mashers which blasted a powerful energy. Squall was busy keeping Terra and Tidus busy as Jenova tended to Bartz's wound.

"Hey, Bro, you alright?" Zidane asked as they finally got the arrow out of Bartz's abdomen.

"I'll be better once I take care of the streetrat," Bartz spat.

Jenova caressed Bartz's face gingerly. "You've done well, my child. Let Mother handle him while you deal with these _pests_."

Zidane and Bartz nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes, Mother." The two of them flew up into the sky. Zidane and Bartz went back to back. Zidane cloaked them in a pinkish energy as Bartz pulled out a yellow sword with blue decorations, the Onion Sword, and charged, spinning. Terra cast a barrier around Tidus and herself. Tidus grasped Terra's wrist, giving her as much energy as he could just to help keep the barrier erect. Sure, his knowledge of magic was limited, at best, but he _was_ made of pyreflies. He figured he should have _something_ to give. The duo collided into the barrier, but Terra and Tidus held firm. Dust began to build up from the collision of the two, great energies. The two finished their attack, but the barrier did not waver. However, once the dust settled, Terra and Tidus noticing something was wrong.

"Jenova… WHERE'S JENOVA?" they shouted.

Squall huffed, his lips twitching ever-so-slightly into a smirk. Bartz and Zidane dusted themselves off with a laugh.

"Mother went to eliminate the weakest link," Bartz answered. Tidus and Terra saw the gray-skinned woman in the distance with one raven-black wing making her way toward Vaan. Bartz formed the shape of a gun with his hand and pulled the imaginary trigger. "Good-bye." Terra, grabbing Tidus and dipping into his energy, cast Float on the two of them and gave chase.

Zidane watched as they flew off. "Should we go after them?" he asked his "brothers."

Squall shook his head. "No, we can now take care of the barrier without interference."

Bartz pointed at the unconscious body of Cloud. "What about him?" Bartz flashed a grin so twisted, even Kefka would have been jealous. "Can I kill him?"

"Go crazy," Squall answered.

Bartz rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Don't mind if I do!"

"NO!" the three of them heard it echo from the tower. The tower flashed a bright white light, blinding the three of them. They had to cover their eyes to protect them from the blinding flash. When the light subsided and they could see again, they noticed that Cloud had disappeared.

Bartz spat. "That bitch, robbing me of my fun."

Squall snorted. "Can't be helped."

Zidane hummed in annoyance. "Guess we gotta do things the hard way."

The three went back to assaulting the barrier as Cosmos did her best to heal Cloud and keep the barrier from falling. Cloud had quite a few broken bones, many of which were ribs, and his back wasn't in the best of shapes. Probably the only thing that saved him from being a fly on a trucker's windshield was the mako flowing through his blood. "Please… _Please_…" she prayed. "We need help… Any help we can get."

~(-)~

"SHIT!" Vaan cursed as he saw Jenova coming straight for him. He lobbed off as many arrows as he could, but she continuously dodged them like they were moving in slow-motion. He saw Terra and Tidus coming to his aid, but they weren't moving fast enough to catch her. Terra fired off spell after spell, but it did little-to-nothing to slow her down. Tidus didn't really have anything to offer other than magic since his ball was destroyed and a Haste spell. Still, even with their increased speed, it didn't seem to help any as she still pulled away from them. Their fatigue was fast catching up with them.

Vaan switched weapons to his crossbow now that she was closer as it fired off several bolts in quick, almost surreal succession. Jenova countered by firing off a red laser, deflecting and burning the arrows as she got closer to Vaan. He had no choice now: He had to run. He had to escape. He put his crossbow away and headed for the Teleport Stone.

"Now, now, Vaan…" Jenova scolded as she fired of another set of four lasers toward the stone. Vaan managed to narrowly avoid the lasers, but his only means of escape was gone. "Is that any way to say hello to Mother?"

"You… are not… MY MOTHER!" he screamed, pulling out his greatsword and jumping, intending to cleave her in two. She simply disappeared in a burst of feathers and reappeared behind him.

"Hmph… You may not see it yet, but you will…" she whispered in his ear as she put a finger to his back, blasting a laser through his torso. Whatever words Vaan had left for her were choked by the excruciating pain of flesh burning away from coming into contact with the beam.

"VAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" Terra cried in terror.

He heard it, even with his own blood ringing in his ears… He felt everything: Blood pouring from the new hole in his stomach… Blood oozing from his mouth… His head light from lack of blood… Lungs collapsing from lack of air… His own body going limp… His eyes becoming heavy… His body becoming cold… Someone cradling him, caressing him… Telling him it was alright…

Telling him everything was alright because Mother was here.

~(-)~

Terra began to see red as she saw Vaan go limp and plummet from the sky. She began squeezing Tidus's wrist hard, and he writhed in pain.

"Terra, Terra!" he pleaded. "Terra, my wrist! You're hurting my wrist!" She wasn't paying attention. Tidus soon felt more of his energy leave his own body. Too much. "Terra? Terra? Come on, this isn't funny! I'm _made_ of this stuff, remember? I need it too!"

She could feel her arms get hot as the energies built up in her arms for her greatest attack. When the spell was fully charged, she swiped the air. "DIE!" she roared, her voice sounding as bestial as she was becoming. In response, several hundred blades of pure magic flew toward Jenova. She simply smiled as she let the blades carve her flesh, almost seeming to welcome the magic tearing her limb-from-limb. She, too, fell out of the sky, bleeding unnaturally-green blood. Tidus was doing his best to keep his lunch in his stomach.

Terra used up too much magic as she passed out and the Float spell broke, causing the two of them to crash into the ocean. Fortunately for them, though, Tidus was a very good swimmer. He pulled the two of them to shore. He patted Terra's back, trying to get her to wake up. She coughed out the small bit of water that made it into her lungs.

"Wh-Where's Vaan?" she asked, panting. Tidus, also panting, drained of a lot of his own energy, pointed toward the area the destroyed Teleport Stone once stood. She checked his vitals. He had a pulse, but it was weak and getting weaker. "We have to hurry."

Tidus whistled at what he found left of Jenova. "Whoa, you sure did a number on her. Remind me to stay on your good side."

The two shared a quick chuckle, hoping that it was, now, finally over. In the distance, they saw the three of them collapse, wings dissolving in a flash of black feathers. They shared a collective sigh of relief. They opened their mental channels to their goddess.

"_Cosmos, it's finished. We won,"_ Terra thought, relief washing over everyone.

"_Very well. Job well done, my Warriors."_

Terra and Tidus felt themselves being pulled back toward the Sanctuary as Cosmos's radiant light absorbed them in its glow.

~(-)~

Back inside the Sanctuary, Terra laid Vaan down as gently as she could to avoid opening up any more of his old wounds and to prevent his current one from getting worse. Tidus wasn't nearly as gentle with Jenova, though. He wasn't about to show her any sort of kindness, not after the hell she just put them through.

Cloud clutched his side in pain. Sweat dripped from his brow. He was in excruciating pain, but at least he was alive. He thanked his lucky stars for that. Seeing the unconscious Bartz, Squall, Zidane, and Jenova caused Cloud to snort in surprise. _"So, his plan worked? Good job, Vaan."_

Between Jenova and Vaan, Cosmos determined that Vaan's recovery was more pressing than Jenova's return to Sleep. She bathed Vaan in her holy light, and the magic went to work repairing his once-again broken and mangled body. The hole in his gut closed, stitching itself back together using the magic as a needle and thread. Vaan grunted, the magicks doing their work. Terra smiled when she heard that. It meant Vaan was going to be okay.

Vaan's eyes shot open. Cosmos could only widen her eyes in shock before a gauntleted hand grabbed her throat, attempting to choke the life out of his goddess.

Terra gasped in disbelief. "Vaan, what are you-" Her question was interrupted when one jet-black wing burst from his back over his right shoulder… the sickening sound of fabric tearing as the wing burst through his shirt made Terra want to vomit. Tidus was two steps ahead of her.

His eyes donned the same cat-like pupils like the others. "Mother said I need to kill Cosmos… And I can be free! Free to travel the world, just like I've always wanted!" His mouth twisted into a sickening, toothy grin. "I'll have my own crew… And the universe shall know that I am the greatest sky pirate to ever live!" Cosmos gasped for air as Vaan's clawed gauntlet dug into her neck.

Terra's body went numb. She was in too much shock to retaliate. Jenova let herself fall. She fooled them… She fooled them all. And, they gave her what she wanted… She gave them Cosmos's life… And, she took Vaan.

"Come on, Vaan, I expected so much better from you."

Out of nowhere, a crackle of electricity fired through the air toward Vaan and Cosmos, causing Vaan to release his grip. "Who dares?" he hissed to the air.

In response to Vaan's inquiry, a person fazed into existence. He had the same sandy-blond hair and tanned skin as Vaan, although he was all around better kept and tidier. He wore a leather chestplate with an armored collar, leather gloves, armored shoulders and gauntlets, a leather skirt with the half on his right side armored over black shorts, leathered sandals that ran up his legs all the way to his thighs, and metal shin guards. To top it all off, in the center of his chestplace, the young man wore the same, blue pendant that Vaan always wore, the pendant of hid deceased brother. Finally, sticking out of his own back, were the strangest wings Terra ever saw. They were small, but they looked more like a picket fence than wings.

"I'm going to get in so much trouble for this… But I could no longer sit back and watch," he said, juggling what looked to be pins in his hand.

Vaan's eyes widened in disbelief. Even brainwashed, he couldn't forget who that was. "… Reks?"

Reks smiled. "I'm flattered. You remember me."

~(-)~

**You wanted Reks, you got Reks. You didn't expect to get him like that, though, did you?**

**Next time: The cavalry has arrived! Break your brothers free from Mother!**


	26. Brother

"_Children, are you happy here?"_

"_Yes, Mother!"_

"_Can we never leave?"_

"_Of course."_

"_You promise to always stay here?"_

"_You won't leave us ever again?"_

"_Yes, I promise."_

~(-)~

"… Reks?" Cloud couldn't believe it: A man who was clearly dead standing here, talking… It had to be impossible. _"A-Am I starting to hallucinate, too?"_ He clutched his head. _"This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real."_

"Hello, Cloud," Reks answered with a smile on his face. "Sorry, I can't catch up right now. My brothers need me."

For a moment, Reks could see Vaan's eyes flash back to normal.

"R-Reks? Is that really you?" he asked as the tears began to well up in his eyes.

Reks nodded. "Yeah, it's me. Have you been eating well?"

Vaan began to sniffle as he tried to force back the tears. The wing began to molt as it retreated back into his body. "O-Of course! Bartz knows all of your recipes by heart!" He scratched his nose. "I do too, but I can't cook…" he added with a nervous chuckle. "But… How? Aren't you… You know…"

Reks just smiled. Vaan began to laugh and cry at the same time.

"_Tch, this one is dangerous,"_ Vaan heard a voice echo in his head. Soon, he doubled over in pain as his body grew excessively hot and his head felt like it was going to explode. _"Vaan, dear, you need to kill him… He is no brother of yours."_

Vaan could only scream in pain as he felt Jenova's claws raking across his brain and stabbing his mind, struggling to regain control after Vaan momentarily broke free. "STOP! STOOOOP!"

"_Mother only does this because Mother loves you."_

The sweat began to pour down his face as he clung desperately to his sanity. "It hurts! Please… Stop!"

"Don't let her control you, Vaan!" Reks pleaded. "You're stronger than her!"

"_Stay out of this, boy!"_ she hissed at Reks, though only Vaan could hear it in his head. Vaan could feel the motherly touch of Jenova on his face. He looked up to see the illusion of the gray woman stroking his head. "Don't you want to be free? Free to travel the world, just like you've always dreamed?"

Between pants of pain, Vaan answered, "Y-Yes…"

"If you let them live, you'll never have that chance… You'll be forever chained to your Goddess, forced to serve her for the rest of your life…" She moved Vaan's face so that his indigo eyes were looking directly in her sunken-red ones. "But, if you kill her, you're free. Free to do what you want with your life. Aren't you willing to do _anything_ for your dream? You became a thief to achieve your dream. If you need to steal her life, so be it. What's one life compared to your dream?"

The wing, having almost fully receded, then exploded back to full size in a flash of black feathers as his eyes returned to their cat-like pupils. "Nothing," he answered. "My dream…" he started, whipping out his spear and charged toward Reks. "I'll make it come true!"

"Tch," Reks spat, dodging to the side to avoid Vaan's attack, then punching his exposed face. "Of course it can't be that easy." As Vaan was knocked away, he turned to Cosmos. "Cosmos! You need to get out of here! Take the others with you, but leave my brothers and Squall!"

Cosmos nodded in acknowledgement. "Very well." She began to encompass them all in her holy glow.

"What?" Tidus blurted out in his shock. "We can't just leave him here to handle them all alone! We couldn't handle them three-on-three! You need our help!"

Vaan began to return to his feet and spat out the blood that gathered in his mouth. "If you haven't noticed, the three of you aren't exactly in fighting shape. Plus, there's also the chance that the same thing will happen to you if you stay." Vaan pulled out his Greatsword and charged again.

"What about you?" Terra asked.

Reks smirked. "It's kinda hard to inject cells into something that doesn't technically have a body." When Vaan closed in, Reks gracefully dodged by flipping forward over Vaan's attack. In the distance, Bartz, Squall, and Zidane began to regain consciousness after their plan to infiltrate Cosmos's Sanctuary was a success. "Hurry!"

Terra struggled to break free of Cosmos's spell. "Wait! No!" But, she was too tired, having no magic left to fight. "VAAN!"

Soon, everyone had disappeared in her light, despite the many protests of her champions. They had fled to a secret Gate to the southeast on a secluded island. She was instructed by Cid to flee there if she had no choice but to run. This moment seemed appropriate. Before she fully faded away, she said to Reks, "Good luck. May the light shine upon you," and disappeared.

Vaan spat. "Damnit, they got away again."

~(-)~

When Cloud, Terra, and Tidus could see again, they noticed that… they were still in the Sanctuary. Well, it looked like the Sanctuary, but Reks and the others weren't with them. Did they really teleport?

"Uuuuuuuh… Did I miss something?" Tidus asked. "We're still in the Sanctuary."

"No… Or, at least, not the one you think we are in." Cosmos made her way back toward her throne, but collapsed on her way.

"Cosmos!" Cloud rushed to her aid. "Are you alright?"

Cosmos began breathing heavily as she placed her hand to her chest to relax herself. "I'm alright. Just… a bit drained."

Terra rushed over to Cosmos, caught in a whirlwind of emotions that manifested mostly in anger. "Send me back! Send me back right now!"

"I cannot," Cosmos answered, though still out of breath.

"Then, I'll go back myself!" She turned to Tidus. "Let me borrow your magic!"

Tidus jumped back in fear. "Um… Uh… Terra, I don't really have anything left to give… You took more than you should have with that attack of yours…"

"I'll only take what I need."

"Terra, I'm **made** of this stuff, remember?" A small pyrefly escaped his body, but, with a quick bit of concentration, he quickly roped it back in. "I can barely keep myself together! I really **don't** have anything left to give."

"Besides," Cosmos interjected. "If you do manage get there, what then? You still have no magic to fight with."

"But-"

Cosmos raised a hand to silence her. "Terra, I understand. Truly. However, you are in no condition to fight. You will only endanger yourself and Reks. We must leave it up to him."

Cloud was off somewhere in his own mind. He more or less missed the entire conversation. He was more concerned about how someone who should be dead suddenly appeared. He hoped that he wasn't hallucinating. He hoped that Jenova wasn't beginning to invade his own mind. "It's not possible! How- How is Reks _alive_?" he thought out loud.

Cosmos shook her head between pants. "He isn't. Reks is very much dead."

"So, wait, wait, wait," Tidus interrupted. "You saw him? I mean, we _all_ saw him? I _wasn't_ hallucinating when I saw a supposedly-dead guy?"

"Correct."

"Okaaaaay… So, answer me this: HOW? It shouldn't be possible, right? I mean…. RIGHT?" Tidus was on the verge of a panic attack, suddenly freaking out at the thought of thousands of dead people walking the earth. He knew bad things usually happened if dead people continued to walk the earth Unsent, Sin being the major one.

"Tidus, calm yourself," Cosmos ordered. "Reks knows he is not supposed to attune his Frequency to the living plane."

Everyone just gave her blank looks as what she just said went completely over their heads.

"Uuuuuuh, what?" It was the only thing that came to Tidus's mind to say.

Cosmos sighed. "I'm afraid I've said more than I should have already."

Cosmos used what was left of her energy to manipulate the waters in this other Sanctuary to create the viewing globe. The picture showed the inside of the original Sanctuary and the five, clashing fiercely as weapons clanged and magic clashed...

~(-)~

Vaan regrouped with the rest of Jenova's "children." "Sorry I'm late, Bros."

Bartz ran his hand through his brother's hair. "Ah, don't sweat it. Sorry about earlier. Mother said it had to be done for the plan."

Vaan smiled. "It's okay. If _he_ didn't show up," he said, pointing to Reks, "it would have worked, too."

Squall snorted. "So much for your 'brother' being dead."

Reks shook his head. "Oh, no, I assure you I am quite dead." He pointed to the wings on his back. "They're proof. I'm a Reaper."

Zidane threw his head back and laughed. "Reaper? They're old skeletons wrapped in tattered robes carrying around scythes. You just grew a pair of wings."

"You shouldn't believe everything you see on television."

Bartz shrugged. "Whatever. I say we kill him again just to be sure." He whipped out Cecil's Paladin lance and lobbed a crescent-shaped slash of Holy energy at him.

Reks jumped forward and over the Luminous Shard. "Try your luck. COURAGE OF HASHMAL!" An Esper crystal materialized in front of him. With his greatsword out in front of him, he charged forward, spinning, breaking the crystal, and gathering earth and dirt, attempted to drill them into a wall. The four dodged easily by flying into the air. Reks' attack ended, screeching to a halt and scraping along the ground.

Squall spat. "It seems your 'brother' has some moves."

"I'm flattered," Reks answered. "GRACE OF VIRGO!" he called, dismissing the Greatsword, and quickly smashing an Esper crystal between his palms. Taking a fighting stance, he challenged them. "COME!"

"You're awfully cocky for someone without a weapon!" Zidane shouted, throwing his combined daggers downward at him.

"Not cocky," he started, disappearing in a flash, then reappearing behind Zidane, elbowing him hard in the back. "I am granted the gifts of the Zodiac." Zidane was sent flying as Reks gave chase, punching him downwards into the floor.

"ZIDANE!" Vaan called out. "HOW DARE YOU HURT MY BROTHER!" he screamed, charging. When he got close to Reks, he summoned a red crest and then plowed through it, cloaking himself in flames.

"BEAUTY OF SHEMHAZAI!" Reks pulled out his Bow as an Esper crystal materialized between himself and Vaan, stocked an arrow, and took aim at Vaan's face. Vaan could only look on in horror as the arrow blasted through the Esper crystal, shattering it, as the glowing arrow flew at him, point-blank. He could only twist his body enough to avoid the fatal blow to his head, but he was still caught in the abdomen. The spiritual energies burned his body as it blasted through his torso, propelling him backwards. Before the others could counter, Reks stocked another arrow and fired. The arrow split into a thousand as they rained upon Bartz and Squall. Squall quickly created a ring of gunpowder around himself and Bartz, firing it to block the arrows.

"_That defense will be tough to get through,"_ Reks thought. Bartz summoned five Holy pearls and shot them forward at Reks while Squall charged his blade full of energy, turning it blue, and rocketing at Reks. "GRACE OF VIRGO!" Reks called, dismissing his bow and smashing the corresponding Esper crystal between his palms, opting for his barehanded style once again. He stepped just to the side of Squall's charge as he gathered Holy energy in his hand. He blasted a beam of Holy energy at Squall's exposed side, blasting him into one of the pillars that littered the Sanctuary. The hairs on the back of Reks's neck stood on end as he could have sworn he heard something snap. He prayed it was just his wing. Still, this was no time to be concerned for the enemy. When he saw the Holy pearls were nearly on top of him, he summoned his Greatsword again. "COURAGE OF HASHMAL!" he called, charging forward and through the Esper crystal, gathering earth with the attack. The Holy pearls bounced off his defenses and back toward the sender. Bartz swatted them away with his bare hands, jumped into the air, summoning Cecil's Paladin lance, and threw a small bit of Holy energy at him.

Reks saw this as his chance. He dodged the small, magic bit, lined himself up under Bartz and summoned his Staff. "WILL OF ADRAMMELECH!" he shouted before slamming his staff into the ground, smashing the Esper crystal that was summoned. A large bolt of lightning came crashing down as it locked onto the staff like it was a lightning rod. Unfortunately for Bartz, he was between the lightning and the staff. Despite the crackle of thunder, Reks could still hear Bartz scream as thousands of volts of judgment coursed through his body. Bartz fell out of the sky with a sickening thud.

~(-)~

"_Really?"_

"_Really, really?"_

"_Really. Why do you keep asking me?"_

"_Because… You left us before."_

"_You left us all alone."_

"_We kept calling for you…"_

"_But, you never answered."_

"_Father told us you went somewhere far away…"_

"_Somewhere we could never go…"_

"_Well, I'm here now. Aren't you happy?"_

"_Yes!"_

"_Happier than we've ever been!"_

~(-)~

Despite all of the damage they have taken, everyone struggled to return to their feet. Their bodies were broken, bloody, and beaten. They were being pushed far past their breaking point, but still they persisted. A trickle of sweat ran down Reks's face. _"So, Jenova is willing to kill them if she gets what she wants. Some mother."_ Reks dismissed the Staff, leaving him barehanded again. He materialized a pin in his hand. It was black, save for the stylized, white skull that took up most of the pin's surface. _"I really should not have this, but, at this point, what's another broken rule?"_ Soon, everyone was charging for him from all sides, despite the numerous injuries that they've suffered. Reks squeezed the pin in his palm as he focused his energies into it. "OPEN UP… YOUR SENSES!" A bright light erupted from the pin. The four of them covered their eyes as the flash encompassed them all.

When the light died down, Reks found himself in a white room, devoid of any sort of defining features, save for four creatures which could only described as some sort of mutant, alien squid with wings. Inside of these strange squid-like creatures, he saw the faces of the four barely peeking out from the alien-squids, sleeping, slowly sinking into the creatures' flesh.

"EVERYONE! AWAKEN!" he shouted, though it was all in vain. The only thing that did was get the attention of the creatures that were trying to eat his brothers. They began spraying various kinds of gas at him. "TERROR OF ZALERA!" He summoned his Gun as an Esper crystal materialized in front of him. He shot it, causing the crystal to scream an unholy wail, blocking the gas. He loaded a special shot into the gun and fired. The shot moved slowly, but, the more it traveled, the bigger the shot became. It was soon big enough to knock the creature holding Vaan off its feet as it exploded in the creature's face. Reks dismissed the gun and ran over to the downed creature. The other creatures were soon firing lasers of various colors at Reks to impede his progress toward Vaan. Reks countered by whipping out the Mace as an Esper crystal materialized on its tip. "FORCE OF ZEROMUS!" He flung the Esper crystal into the distance where it shattered and created a black hole, drawing the other creatures toward it. They shrieked as they tried to hold their ground.

He pounced upon the downed creature that held Vaan hostage. He lightly smacked Vaan's face trying to get any sort of response from him. "Come on, Vaan… Wake up!" He looked back to see the other creatures were regrouping. Getting desperate, he tore into the flesh of the creature, ripping it apart from Vaan. The creature shrieked an unholy wail in pain as its allies were soon blasting various colored beams in Reks direction to make him stop. Reks had no choice but to flee from the downed creature. If he was going to save them, he couldn't very well die here.

"WHO DARES HURT MY CHILDREN?"

The voice seemed to come from everywhere in this white void, echoing off of nothing but itself. Descending from above, Reks saw what looked to be a flower with half-a-woman attached to the front of it with long, tentacle arms.

"Children?" he asked.

Looking down, she noticed the intruder and screamed before whipping one of her arms forward. While Reks did avoid the initial impact, the force of her arm hitting the ground flung Reks back. He landed hard on his back and rolled a bit from the impact. He struggled to return to his feet, wiping a bit of dirt off of his face.

"Jenova, I presume?"

"These are my children, and you will not hurt them!" she threatened, slamming her arms into the ground for emphasis.

He scowled at her. "If you were wise, you would release your prisoners."

She laughed in response. "Prisoners? No, they asked for Mother's protection. Look at them," she said, motioning to the sleeping faces inside of the creatures. "They are sleeping... They are dreaming… Their dreams are happy and peaceful. They don't want to be a part of this world. It is hard. It is cruel. They are forced to fight in a war they don't understand against people they thought they knew. They are forced to remember things that no one else can know. They are forced to carry a burden all on their own. Such sad children. How could I let them suffer?" Reks balled his fist in anger. "If you were their brother, you would understand."

Reks shook his head. "You are right. You are absolutely right. They have suffered more hardships in a short amount of time than most people can even begin to fathom." He clenched his fist harder, feeling the power of Mist well up inside of him. "HOWEVER! That does not make it okay for you to lock their minds away in a world of dreams! They know life is hard! They get up every day fearing that someone they know will try to kill them. Despite all of this, they persist! They continue to live their lives as if nothing was happening! They continue to treat everyone the same even though they know otherwise because they agreed to carry the burden of truth. They did it all so that no one else would have to suffer like they already have." Reks felt the Mist energy inside of his body reach a boiling point as its aura burned from his body. "JENOVA! I WILL ONLY REPEAT MYSELF ONCE: RELEASE YOUR PRISONERS, OR SUFFER THE WRATH OF THE DARK ONES!"

"YOUR 'BROTHERS' ARE MINE!" she hissed, whipping her arms forward again. "THEY SLEEP BECAUSE THEY SO WISH IT!"

Using the increase in power, he summoned one, last Esper crystal. "I CALL UPON THE POWER OF THE LOST ESPER, ZODIARK!" he cried, smashing the crystal between his hands. In response he was incased in an egg as the power of the Esper began to fill his body.

~(-)~

"_Wait…"_

"_Happier than I've ever been?"_

"_What's wrong?"_

"… _No."_

"_This isn't right."_

"_It's a lie. It's all a __**lie**__."_

"_This isn't how it's supposed to be."_

"_Calm down! Let Mother help you!"_

"_LIAR!"_

"_WITCH!"_

"_TEMPTRESS!"_

"_GET AWAY FROM ME!"_

"_YOU… YOU DARE DEFY MOTHER?"_

"_You…"_

"_**YOU**__…"_

~(-)~

"STOP HIM!" Jenova shrieked. In response, her "children" began firing a multitude of lasers at the egg, but the lasers completely missed. "What?" Looking down, she noticed that her "children" were beginning to stir. They were trying to leave the world that she so lovingly made for them. "YOU… YOU DARE DEFY MOTHER?" she screamed as she commanded the creatures holding Bartz, Squall, Zidane, and Vaan to electrocute them. They screamed in pain, but the electrical jolt only succeeded in finally waking them from their dream.

"You…" they said, freeing their left hand from the creature that held them.

"… are not…" Then, their right hand burst through the creatures' flesh. They grabbed the flesh that covered the rest of their body with their now free hands.

"… OUR MOTHER!" They tore open the creatures' chest, freeing themselves from their own prison. Now free, they passed out once more as they fell from the open cavity.

"NO! NO, NO, NO!" Jenova began screaming. "I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED! EVERYTHING! AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?" She whipped her arms out and grabbed them and squeezed, the distinct sound of breaking bones filled the air. "YOU SHALL PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!"

Jenova, however, forgot about the egg until she heard cracking sounds that weren't coming from her hands. Looking back toward the egg, orange energy began seeping through the cracks until the eggshell exploded from no longer being able to contain the energy within. Emerging from the egg was Reks, completely incased in a fiery aura, giving him the appearance of a burning phoenix.

"JENOVA!" he shouted, his voice echoing with several voices that were not his own. "Do you wish to know why the Occuria sealed away Zodiark? It was not because he betrayed them liked the other Espers, but it was because the Occuria feared his power. Now, you shall know why!" He flew at her with such incredible speed that he had closed the gap between them before she could even react. Every time Jenova caught sight of Reks, there was a new fist mark in her flesh. Fist after fist pounded her body from all sides. The fierce flurry of fists stopped almost as suddenly as it began. Looking up, she soon saw why. "TERROR OF ZALERA!" He summoned an Esper crystal and blasted it with his gun, causing the crystal to shriek in Jenova's face. The ear-splitting cry caused her to drop the four. Reks quickly separated himself from Zodiark's energy. The energy caught the four before they could land, acting as a makeshift vessel to carry them.

While Jenova was stunned, he blasted a Thunder spell at her as reality broke away to reveal the EX dimension. Reks began by calling down bolts from the heaven, swirling in a helix pattern around Jenova. Next, Reks called forth an ice storm. The ice storm took the form of a gigantic dragon. It opened its humungous maw wide and clamped down over Jenova. While all that was going on, Reks raised his hand toward the heavens. Lightning came down from the clouds and gathered up in his hand, creating a crackling sphere of electricity. He flew forward and punched Jenova in the "gut" with the electrical sphere, causing it to explode. The explosion was so fierce, that it actually pierced Jenova's body, shooting bolts out from everywhere.

With his Quickening complete, the Mist that gathered had built up, preparing to detonate. Twelve crests appeared in a clockwise manner over Jenova. Each crest had a symbol of the zodiac on it, starting with Pisces, and moving onto Aeries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius, leaving a large hole in the center. Reks flew up through the hole as the final crest appeared, Ouphiuchus. He kicked the middle crest of Ouphiuchus, causing all of the crests to fire beams of ice, fire, wind, death, gravity, earth, holy, aether, poison, spirit, lightning, water, and darkness at her. With the attack finished, reality returned to normal as Jenova was nothing more than a steaming mass of tissue. The creatures that held her "children" shrieked one, last, ear-splitting scream and dissolved away. The "phoenix" landed gently, resting its load gingerly on the white ground before also fading away. The room started to gain color as grass began to grow at Reks's feet. The color stretched and began to color the world in various hues of greens and blues and yellows. Soon, a field of flowers and a thick, dark forest sprung up, and several airships began to fly overhead. The sun was shining brightly on the sudden landscape. When Reks saw that their minds were now truly free from Jenova's influence, he smiled and nodded.

"All is as it should be." Taking out the pin from earlier, he stopped giving it energy, severing his connection with their minds.

With the pin no longer connecting him to them, he was returned to the Sanctuary. The four were now sleeping peacefully on the wet ground, though, much to Reks's horror, they still had the wings of Jenova. He hurried over to them and started nudging them awake.

The first to stir was Squall. He tried to stand but stumbled over feeling dizzy. He shook his head to try and make the room stop spinning. "Ugh… What…" Squall soon saw a hand in front of his face. He followed the hand up to the owner's face, only to fall over in surprise as to who was on the other end. He only saw his face once, but he couldn't forget a face like his. "… Reks?" He nodded. Squall took his hand, though the look of shock was still plastered on his normally expressionless face, and Reks helped to pull Squall to his feet.

"How do you feel, Squall?" he asked.

Squall held his head with his hand and grunted. "… I'm told this is what a hangover feels like." When he moved, in the corner of his vision, he saw something over his left shoulder. Instinctively, he grabbed it, only to realize, whatever he just grabbed, he _felt_ it. He felt it coming from his back. Looking back, he saw it: The pitch-black wing. He saw something like that before coming out of Sephiroth's own back. But… "… What the hell? … Why is _that_ coming out of _my_ back?" Looking at the others, he saw the same, single wing protruding from their backs… Wings that shouldn't be there. "Wh-What the hell happened?"

Reks sighed. "Much," was all he could really say at the moment.

Then, it hit him like a ton of bricks. That dream… He saw flashes of images with people hurt… By his own sword. Allies… _Friends_.The memories were fuzzy, but they were there. _"Was it real? … Could it be real? Did…"_ Squall reached down over Bartz and, with a sharp tug, plucked a feather from his wing. The resulting shriek of pain and sudden waking from Bartz was an indicator that the wing wasn't just for show.

"OW! Ow, ow, ow, ow…" he whined as he rubbed his back. "What the hell was that for, Squ-" He then noticed the feathers his right arm was brushing up against. Looking back at the wing, Bartz could feel the color drain from his face. "… Oh… dear… _god_…" Looking around in a panic, he saw that his brothers and Squall also had the single, black wings. The images… They started to flash rapidly in his mind. The screams… The blood… It was all so clear… So _vivid_…

Tears began to run down his face. "… My god, what have I _done_?"

Reks sighed. "So, you remember…"

Bartz looked up upon hearing a familiar voice. The tears only grew. "It can't be… R… Reks? How?" Reks got on his knees and pulled Bartz into a hug. Bartz promptly began bawling at this point. "WHY? WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY? WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE THIS? ITS! NOT! FAIR! I… I just… I just wanted everyone… I just wanted my family back…"

Reks began to pat his back in hopes of making him calm down. "I'm sorry, Bartz. I really am. Sometimes… Life just isn't fair." Bartz began to hiccup he was crying so hard. "But, I knew I could count on you to keep an eye out for them, protect them from life's cruelties. You promised me you would, didn't you?"

"Y-Yes…"

"Good." He ran his hand through Bartz's hair. Bartz began to giggle as that was always what Reks did, despite them being about the same height.

Soon, Zidane and Vaan were stirring too.

"Ugh… Anyone get the license plate of that bus?" Zidane asked, clutching his head.

"No more for me, thanks," Vaan joked, being just as woozy as everyone else. "I'm driving…"

Reks laughed this time. "It's nice to know some things don't change."

Bartz snorted back the mucus that began dripping down his nose as he wiped the tears from his cheeks. "I know, right?"

"Ugh… What happened?" Zidane groaned. "Last thing I really remember was being in the World of Darkness…"

"I dunno…" Vaan answered, until he saw Reks. His eyes grew wide when he suddenly remembered. "… N-No way… That… That was _real_?" Looking at his back, there it was… the wing. "… Oh god… Me too?"

"You too, what-" Zidane just noticed the wing sticking out of Vaan's back and crawled backwards in fear, pointing at it with a trembling hand. "Wh-wh-what? You?"

"Zidane… You had one before I did…"

Zidane looked at his back, and, low and behold, there it was. "… No… No way…" Looking around, Zidane saw Jenova, bloody and unconscious some ways off in the Sanctuary. Vaan soon noticed the same thing. Like a bolt of lightning, the two were off, brandishing their swords.

Bartz knew what they had on their minds. The two prepared to end what was left of Jenova's life. They raised their blades and lunged, only to be stopped by Bartz grabbing both of their hands while they were overhead.

"Bartz, let go!" Vaan demanded.

"She deserves it!" Zidane hissed.

Bartz bent their arms back, painfully pinning them behind their back. "And, then what? Yes, she's a monster. Yes, Jenova did to us what no one should go through. But, what about Jenova, the grandmother? What about Jenova, the kindly, old lady that visited Cloud in the hospital whenever she could? Are you okay with killing her?" Vaan and Zidane bowed their heads in shame and dismissed their weapons. "Yes, we have the wings of a monster, but that doesn't make _us_ monsters." The two turned around and began crying into their brother's shirt. "Aw, come one. If there's a way out of it, we'll find it. Together, just like we've always had, and just like we always will. Right?"

The two looked up. Seeing Bartz's smiling face calmed them down just enough to smile back. "Right," they answered together.

Reks was soon giving them all a big hug as well. "This is what I miss most."

"REKS!" Zidane and Vaan shouted happily, returning the large hug.

"Aw, man, I can't believe it!" Vaan exclaimed.

"Yeah! You totally kicked our butts!" Zidane finished with a laugh.

Reks playfully ruffed their heads as well. "Well, I did have the advantage of being at full strength. You guys and Jenova didn't exactly make it easy, though."

"Hey, hey!" Zidane said, bouncing up and down on his heels. "You gonna stick around? We could use the help!"

Reks laughed nervously. "Uh… I really wasn't supposed to help you guys at all, actually. My boss is really going to have my wings for this…"

"Is he that bad?" Vaan asked.

"You know how Judges are, Vaan."

Vaan cringed at the thought of Ivalice Judges and took his word for it. "Wait, judge?"

"Oops, I think I've said too much. Now, I'm _really_ going to get it."

The four brothers shared a quick laugh. Squall looked on in amazement.

"_I… I don't believe it. They really are brothers,"_ he thought.

"Well, of course we are!" Bartz answered. "We've been saying that since the beginning!"

"What?"

"Uh, duh!" Zidane responded. "We all heard that."

"Uh… Heard what?" Reks was lost.

"Mr. Leather-pants over there said he couldn't believe we were brothers," Vaan explained. "Seriously, how did you not hear that. It was loud and clear."

A trickle of sweat ran down Squall's cheek. "Uh, guys… I said that… _in my mind_."

The Bartz, Zidane, and Vaan looked at Squall like he had three heads. "… What?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Vaan said, trying to make sense of the situation. "Are you saying we just read your mind?"

"Hey, if we read his mind, maybe we can read each other's! Quick! What am I thinking?"

A rather, well, provocative image of certain females soon swept through the four's minds.

"OH GOD, ZIDANE!" Bartz screamed. "WHY DO YOU THINK THESE THINGS?"

"My eyes! My virgin eyes!" Vaan whined.

"LAY OFF THE -bleep-ing PORN, MAN!" Squall shouted.

Zidane giggled and swished his tail playfully. "I'll take that as a 'yes.'"

"Bartz!" Reks scolded. "You're supposed to keep him in check!"

"I swear, I tried! The guy keeps breaking the parental lock I have installed on the computer!" Bartz yanked on Zidane's ear, something he clearly didn't like by the various pleads to let go. "You are in sooooooo much trouble, young man."

Zidane snickered. _"Yeah, I know… Totally worth it, though."_ The thought earned him another sharp tug on his ear from Bartz. "OW!"

"I can hear that, remember?"

Vaan sighed. "Privacy's going to be a bitch."

Squall glared at him. "Don't tell me you watch porn, too."

"What? No! I have a girlfriend remember?" This only caused Bartz to glare at him too. "What's that look for? … Whoa, whoa, whoa! I have **not** gone to second base with her, okay? Her uncles would _kill_ me if they found out, and I rather like living."

Despite this, he still received an ear-pull from Bartz and Squall and whined at them to let him go. Reks couldn't help but laugh. The four stopped their antics to look at him, wondering why.

When Reks could catch his breath, he explained. "I'm so glad… So glad I don't have to worry about you."

"What do you mean?" Bartz asked.

"Look at you! Bartz, you matured so fast to take care of them, but Squall at least lets you be the kid you are at heart." Bartz flipped his cape over his head to hide the building red in his cheeks. Reks laughed again. "See? That's just what I mean!" Reks finally caught his breath and smiled. "Squall, thank you for being a good brother to them."

Squall opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again when he realized, well, that's just what he was. He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "You're welcome."

When the others heard that, they suddenly pounced upon the lion. "BROTHER!" they screamed happily. Squall promptly buckled under their combined weight. Of course, the three started laughing. Squall let himself smile for the briefest of moments.

Reks sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry to break up this touching moment… But, I really should be going."

Bartz, Vaan, and Zidane frowned but gave Reks a big hug.

"Promise you'll come back?" Bartz asked.

"I can't promise anything," he admitted. "But, I'll try and sneak a few visits here and there." That seemed to be enough as they let go of their embrace. Reks started to phase out as the three waved him good-bye. Before he fully left their vision, he gave them one last smile, and the three returned it in kind.

Cosmos and the others flashed in shortly after Reks left. Cosmos was obviously drained, but the time for rest would come later. They laid Jenova at her feet, and Cosmos performed the ritual to remove the shard of Chaos that had Awakened her. The four had a hard time looking everyone in the eyes after realizing what they had done while under her influence.

When Cosmos extracted the shard, she noticed something as wrong with it right away. Although the shards themselves were usually small, this one was _unusually_ small. To call it a shard was wrong; it was more like a sliver of Chaos.

The others seemed to notice the problem as well.

"… That's all?" Tidus questioned. "I figured someone with her power would have a lot more of that in her."

"Are you sure you didn't miss anything?" Terra asked.

Cosmos shook her head. "Yes, this is all of it, I'm certain." She then looked up at the four. "Unless…"

"Unless…?" Bartz repeated.

"The rest of the shard is inside of each of you." She again summoned the harmonious energies and attempted to reach inside them for what was left of the shard. The four soon doubled over in pain as it felt like something was trying to be ripped out of them, and the thing in question had no intention of leaving. It felt like a desperate tug-of-war inside of their chest. Cosmos stopped when she realized that the pain was too much. All of the party involved began to pant as the pain began to subside.

"W-Will you four do me a favor?" Cosmos asked between pants. "Allow me to see your Crystals."

Doing as they were instructed, they summoned their crystals. Immediately, they knew something was wrong when they phased into existence in smoky wisps instead of a bright flash. Their normally bright, reflective, colorful Crystals were now dark, gray, and opaque.

Bartz jaw was barely on its hinges. "What in the-"

"It is as I feared," Cosmos interrupted. "The shard fragments have imbedded themselves deep in your Crystals." She sighed. "I do not think I can remove them without possibly killing you."

"I-It's that bad?" Terra asked completely shocked.

"Your Crystals are tied to your hearts. If your hearts are consumed by darkness, then your Crystals will blacken." A trickle of sweat ran down their cheeks. "I can remove it if you manage to concur your darkness. However, at the moment, it has wormed its way deep in the darkest corners of your heart. I fear that it will try to make that darkness grow. If you do not find a way to overcome it, you will lose yourself to discord."

The four could only look at their Crystals in horror. Despite it no longer reflecting the light, the four could still see their reflections in the Crystals' surface. The faces… They changed. Instead of seeing themselves as the heroes they are, they saw themselves with misty-white hair and horrid green eyes with cat-like pupils… and a smile… a smile so horrid it made Kefka's sweet by comparison. They knew that face… That was the face of a cold-blooded murderer… A murder of an entire world that did it just because he _could_.

They regularly faced psychotic, world-destroying **gods** who were their neighbors, friends, and family, not knowing which of them they will fight next, constantly putting their lives on the line and, oftentimes, surviving by the slimmest of margins. However, nothing was more terrifying to them than what they saw in their own Crystals: Themselves.

~(-)~

**I think I'm getting close to that point where I'm going to suffer story-burnout again. I mean, thoughts and ideas are just **_**pouring**_** out of my head at this point, and it's making me restless. I recently had an idea for (yet another) Dissidia fanfiction where it crosses Dissidia and the Wizard of Oz. Surprisingly, though, the main character is not Bartz, but rather Cloud (But, Bartz **_**is**_** the scarecrow.)… And Cloud is forced to run around in a dress instead of the ruby slippers. :B I don't know if I want to do that, though, since it won't be a one-shot. And, that's not getting me started on another long-term story idea I had crossing over MegaMan Battle Network and Digimon Tamers (or maybe Xros Wars) and my own original story for a webcomic a friend and I want to make...*headdesk***

**I have a whole Dissidia moveset for Reks planned out, by the way. I should probably also make one for Sora and Roxas for future self-reference. (I'd show you if the site didn't keep eating the link)**

**Also, damnit, I wish there was a right align in this. Maybe because I'm typing this up in Word and the site does say it doesn't support it fully. The moments where they're talking to Mother is supposed to be interchanging left align-right align with Jenova being middle-align. Bah.**

**Next time: The wings persist? What does this mean for the team? Will the four be able to adjust to having a piece of Chaos stuck inside of them? What are the repercussions of Jenova's actions?**


	27. The Calm

**DON'T WORRY, EVERYONE! I'M NOT DEAD! I've just been **_**completely**_** uninterested in writing (Kid Icarus: Uprising, The Dueling Network, possible spoilers for an upcoming game, and a new puppy who gets into any sort of trouble when you take your eyes off of her for a moment are mostly to blame). However, with my thoughts starting to gravitate back to the story, it's probably a good time to get back on it.**

**Oh, in case anyone wants to see the moveset I've planned out for Reks, it's on my DeviantArt page. Look up Walla-Walla-Wakka (I can't put a link down because FanfictionDOTnet eats them). Maybe I should make a new account for anything Memoirs from a Mirror-related… Hm…**

~(-)~

There was a collective sigh of concern from everyone in the room.

"So… What do we do now?" Bartz asked both everyone else and himself.

Squall shook his head. "It's not like we can walk around with wings coming out of our backs."

"I can hide a tail, but a wing? Nuh-uh," Zidane agreed.

"A-Are we going to have to stay here?" Vaan asked, concerned. "_Can_ we even stay here?"

"I can't," Squall answered. "As much as I don't like to admit it, I _do_ have a family that worries about me."

"And, I doubt Uncle Terra and Aunt Aqua wouldn't come looking for us if we went missing," Bartz started, beginning to extend fingers as if he was counting, "Not to mention Gilgamesh, Firion, Light, Aerith, Zack-"

"I think we get it, Bartz, thank you," Squall interrupted.

Bartz laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. With a quick clear of his throat, he spoke, "So, we're back to my original question: 'What do we do now?'"

Cosmos responded this time. "I believe I may have a solution, though only temporary… and possibly quite dangerous."

"We're listening," Squall answered for the four.

Cosmos nodded and continued. "It may be possible to over-radiate you with my harmonious energies, but I am not sure what would happen to you… considering…"

"Meaning…?"

"While it may cause the wing to retract, I do not think it will do so painlessly. However, I do not know how much pain it will cause… or how long the treatment will last."

The four of them thought it over for a mere moment before giving a collective shrug.

"Do we really have a choice otherwise?" Bartz answered.

"Even if it is temporary, we can come back for another treatment, right?" Zidane agreed.

Squall nodded. "It's the best solution we have at the moment."

"Until we figure out something more permanent, anyway," Vaan added.

"Are you ready?" Cosmos asked.

"As we'll ever be…" Bartz sighed. _"I hope…"_ he mentally added.

Cosmos nodded in acknowledgement. "Everyone, if I may-" Cloud, Terra, and Tidus gave Cosmos their attention. "I will need your Crystals for this as well."

"Cosmos, are you sure about this?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah," Tidus added in. "You're not much better off than the rest of us."

"I'll rest in due time, everyone," she reassured them. "For now, they need this."

Cloud, Terra, and Tidus did as they were instructed and summoned their Crystals. The powerful objects gravitated over toward Cosmos, glowing brighter as they neared their source. Soon, more crystals were flashing into existence, and not just any crystals. The Crystals of her other chosen warriors, the long, blue crystal of the nameless Warrior, the pink, broken-looking crystal belonging to Firion, the emerald-looking crystal of the Onion Knight, the black crystal belonging to Cecil, and five crystals the others didn't recognize as belonging to anyone. The first crystal looked like, well, to Bartz, a crystal crunchy-Cheeto. The next crystal was a simple, but large, red orb, not terribly unlike Cloud's crystal. The third unrecognized crystal was a clear, blue crystal that vaguely looked like a drop of water. It started at a point, the progressively got wider as it got longer until a certain point in which it became extremely narrow again at the other point. The fourth crystal looked similar to Tidus's, only with a gold base instead of a white one. The final crystal looked like a small, pink crystal rose. Cloud and Tidus recognized two of the Crystals as they were based on objects from their world, the Materia and the Spheres. Were those Crystals…?

Before they had time to think about it, the Crystals started spinning in a circle… faster… _faster_, growing brighter as they did until they appeared as nothing more than a ring of light in front of Cosmos. When the energy was strong enough, the ring fired a strong beam at the four, Cloud, Terra, and Tidus only barely managing to step out of the way in time. The four could only shield their eyes as the beam shot though them. It didn't do any physical damage, per se, but it sure did burn like _hell_. They could swear they could feel their skin burning right off their bones (and Bartz knows what that's like. It is **not** pleasant). Still, the beam was doing what they intended and the wings started to disintegrate from the light.

After an _excruciating_ five minutes, any traces of Jenova's wings were gone, only leaving a trail of smoke from their backs and the distinct smell of burnt feathers in the air. After a few more seconds, the four of them collapsed, unconscious. The gathered Crystals all dropped like stones after the process was over. Cloud, Terra, and Tidus walked over to collect their Crystals since even they were drained of all energy. When they retrieved their Crystals, they flashed and disappeared back inside their owners. While no one was noticing, Tidus grabbed the other Crystal that looked similar to his own. Memories began to flash in his mind…

(-)

Tidus found himself… looking at himself, over the ruins of Sin. The sun was setting, and pyreflies wafted in the air.

"… _I remember this place…"_ Tidus thought.

"I got a theory," the "other" Tidus began. "I think… the Fayth gathered up my thoughts and put 'em together to bring me back." "He" stretched and smiled. "Maybe, something like that." "He" seemed confused… concerned, as if there was something still bothering him. "Or, maybe…" he continued, sounding somber. "… I'm still a dream."

"Wait!"

"_That voice!"_ Tidus's thoughts interrupted. _"I know that voice! … So, this is her Crystal. Yuna."_

"So, that means you'll disappear?" Yuna asked, ready to break down in tears over the thought of losing him again.

For a few moments, they said nothing. The only sound they heard was the sound of the waves washing against the rocks, unsure of what to say. For Tidus, it was difficult to come to face what he was: Nothing more than an illusion of someone long ago… a dream of the Fayth. He knew defeating Sin would be his end, but… It was something he had to do. He had to stop Spiria's… Zanarkand's… _everyone's_ suffering… But, he still wanted nothing more than to be… be _with_ Yuna.

Finally, having found the words "he" needed to say, "Tidus" turned around. "Cherish me, Yuna. And, I'll cherish you." He perked up a bit in his voice. "All right? We gotta stay together. That's what we have to do."

Yuna, unable to restrain herself, ran over to Tidus and hugged him. "Is that what the Fayth told you?" she asked.

"Tidus" smirked and answered, "Nah. But, I like it." And the two began to laugh. They missed that about each other the most, something so simple as the sound of each other's laughter.

"And, three, two, one…" Tidus counted until-

SPLASH! Yuna pushed "Tidus" off of the cliff.

After clearing the water from his nose after his unexpected dive, "Tidus" pouted and said, "Hey! That's not 'cherishing'!"

She did nothing but smile downwards at him. She felt the tears well up in her eyes, completely unable to hide just how happy she was. Pushing them back for a moment, she finally spoke. "You didn't disappear."

As if to make sure, "Tidus" examined his hands, and, lo and behold, they were as solid as they've always been. "Tidus" extended his arms toward the heavens, thanking whatever invisible god he should be thankful to, and nodded at Yuna, who then nodded back. And they remained that way for a few more moments, until Tidus was finally allowed to wake up from his "dream.

(-)

When Tidus came to, he noticed he was still holding Yuna's Crystal in his hand. Cosmos had passed out as well, trying to recover her strength after expending so much of it. Terra had laid a sleeping Vaan on her lap, and, somehow, passed out herself while still sitting upright.

"Have fun invading someone's memories?" Tidus turned his head to notice it was Cloud who asked him the question. He didn't look much worse for wear, but he was resting to recover his strength.

"… I wasn't _invading_ her memories, per se…" he answered, trying to defend himself.

Cloud just silently stared at him. "… That's Yuna's Crystal, isn't it?"

Tidus slumped defeated. "Yeah, it's hers." He sat down next to Cloud, propping himself up by resting his back against a pillar. "And, it wasn't like it wasn't something I didn't already know. It was a memory I have, too."

"Tell me about it."

"… You want to know?"

"I'm curious."

"… Really?"

Cloud shrugged. "I'm wondering how a girl like that picked a guy like you."

"… Oh, harsh, dude." Tidus cleared his throat as he began to explain. "Okay, I'm not really sure if you know or not, but… I'm a bit… well, weird."

"… Go on."

"Well, it's difficult to explain, but I'm what we call a 'dream.'"

"… Meaning?"

"I… don't really exist. … But, yet, I do."

"… What?"

"Yeah, I didn't really get it at first, either," Tidus admitted. "But, I'm just, essentially, a living memory."

"I know what that's like…" Cloud muttered under his breath.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Continue."

"Okay, well, there was this thing called Sin. Basically, it was this giant, monster whale that would continuously try to destroy the world. Every time it resurfaced, a Summoner would go on a pilgrimage to gather the Fayth in order to get the Final Aeon."

"… And, when you met Yuna, she was-"

"Yeah, on her pilgrimage. Sin attacked my home of Zanarkand, and I washed up on the beach of her island. People told me I was crazy when I told them I was from Zanarkand."

"Why?"

"Well, that's the thing: It apparently didn't exist anymore."

Cloud, trying to make sense of that, asked, "So, what, you time travelled?"

"Well, not really, but I'm getting to that. You see, Sin, the Final Aeon, all of it, it was nothing but a lie. Every time someone used the Final Aeon to defeat Sin, Sin would possess the Final Aeon and turn it into a new Sin, killing the Summoner in the process."

"… That's terrible."

"See, I didn't know that, so I was all for Yuna going on her pilgrimage if that meant the people would be saved. Later, I find out about the truth of the pilgrimage… and about myself."

"This whole 'dream' thing, I presume?"

"Yeah, you see, Sin was originally built as more than a mindless, killing machine. It was made to protect Zanarkand and its people from an invading country. A select few people turned into the Fayth in order to preserve the memory of Zanarkand. Me and my dad… we were from _that_ Zanarkand."

"The Fayth told me that they were tired of dreaming and wanted to wake from their dream. But, they also told me that if I were to _truly_ defeat Sin… Well, I would 'disappear.'"

Cloud was flabbergasted. "What?"

"Yeah, I know, right? First, tell me I don't really exist, then tell me what I'm going to do will kill me. That's a lot to lay on a guy." Tidus let out a nervous chuckle to try and lighten the mood. "Of course, we went through with it and defeated Sin, once and for all."

"And, so you…"

Tidus nodded. "Yup. Poof," he said with a snap of his fingers to emphasize the fact.

"So what does all of this have to do with the memory you just saw?"

"I'm getting to it, I'm getting to it, God!" he blurted out exasperated. "Anyway, a few years later, Yuna went and saved the world again. In doing so, she, somehow, got sent back in time to the point where we defeated Sin, and this time, I didn't have to fade away. I got to live on… with her." He clutched Yuna's crystal tighter.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment. Cloud decided to break the ice. "Shouldn't you give that back to Cosmos?"

"… I…"

"… You're not planning on giving that to Yuna, are you?" Tidus just sighed. Cloud took that as a yes. "Tidus, why? Don't you want to spare her this?"

"I do, yeah, but she said it should be _her_ choice."

"… 'Her choice'? Wait, she knows?"

"A couple of days ago, sleeping beauty over there," Tidus pointed to Bartz, "went and blurted our little secret to their girlfriends. They told me I could tell Yuna if I wanted just so she wasn't out of the loop. Well, I did, and, with Yuna being Yuna, she said she wanted to help."

"You should have convinced her otherwise."

"Trust me, dude, I tried!" he whined in self-defense. "But, Yuna's not the type to stand around if people she cares about are in trouble and she can do something about it. Besides, she _is_ right. If she wants to help us and Cosmos, it _should_ be her choice."

"… What if it goes wrong?"

"Like it did with you?" Cloud was the one to answer with a silent "yes" this time. "Doubtful. Yuna's as pure as they come… even with her change in personality during the time I was 'sleeping.'"

"Huh?"

"I mean, Yuna was always hot, but daaaaaamn, she got _really_ hot during that time." Cloud just rolled his eyes.

He gave Tidus a playful shove. "You'd better rest up, Romeo, since our healers are currently out of commission."

Tidus propped himself back up and giggled. "I suppose I should ask someone to give me white magic lessons at some point, huh?"

Cloud just rolled his eyes again and fell asleep. Tidus made himself comfortable and also drifted off into dreamland…

(-)

Elsewhere, a certain Reaper had just made his way back to HQ, a Gate south-west of Cosmos's Sanctuary. Reks touched the normally-empty Gate, causing a light-blue Crest to appear that took him inside. Inside the Gate, blue wisps floated around aimlessly as other similarly winged people in hoods did their best to guide these wisps to a certain area. Reks saw some other Reapers fly around, as if they were looking for something. Suddenly, while Reks was taking in his familiar settings, he heard a very familiar and very irritating laugh come from below.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!" Good show, old boy! Good show!" a short-statured woman said. She had long, pointed ears and her blond hair tied in two, bouncy ponytails. Her tan skin was dotted by her darker nose. She wore robes of long, navy-blue and cream stripes in a futile attempt to make her look taller. On her back was a simple staff with a red jewel, indicating that she was a spellcaster and the same wings of traditional Reapers.

"Hello, to you too, Shantotto," Reks answered exasperated. He only talked with her for a moment, and already he wished he was somewhere else.

"I'll have you know the Conductor is quite cross," she warned.

"And, I'm guessing you want me to go see the boss?" he asked.

She laughed again with that annoying laugh of hers. "For a stupid boy, you are quite smart. Shame he will tear you apart!"

"If I didn't do what I did, Cosmos would be dead!" he pleaded, trying to justify himself.

Shantotto pointed her staff at him threateningly. "Was it really worth your head?"

"I stand by what I did. I know I was right."

She shrugged. "I just hope you didn't have any plans for tonight."

Reks flew off, now thoroughly annoyed, to the Judge's room as Shantotto looked at her palm. A red timer was on it, counting down until the current challenge she set for the Players was over. "Let's see how many whelps my pet will get. For, with him, I do have a bet! If I lose, then my rhymes are done. If I win, I'll get to have me some fun! OH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO!"

Reks made his way through the halls until he came upon the large doors of the Conductor. He knocked three times. On the third knock, the doors swung wide open on their own, revealing a large, tiled room with a red carpet running down the middle to a single, wooden desk with a large, red chair with its back toward Reks on a slightly elevated floor. Running alongside the room were various suits of armor… Archadian Judge Armor. Reks walked down the carpet, noting the various different styles of suits, each that held a former Judge Magister, many of which he didn't recognize. When he was at the first step before the rise to the Conductor's desk, Reks kneeled before it. The chair occupied by the Conductor turned around. In the chair was a man covered in Archadian Judge Magister armor.

"Reks…" he said, disappointedly.

"Hello, Judge Magister Gabranth," Reks answered.

In response, the Judge removed his helmet to reveal his face, lightly tan with short, blond hair and brown eyes. "I assume you have an explanation for breaking the rule of attuning your frequency to the Realground?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"If I didn't, Cosmos would be no more."

"And, why do you feel so strongly about this?"

"Because, I know my brothers."

Gabranth sighed and rose from his chair, making his way toward the window behind him. "Even if you did not appear, Cosmos would have fled to her secret Sanctuary."

Reks shook his head while still looking at the floor. "And, I like I said: I know my brothers. They would have found her, and, in her weakened state, they would have killed her."

"What makes you so certain they would have?"

"Bartz, Zidane, Vaan…" Reks sighed. "They're all professional treasure hunters… Some would call them thieves. Regardless, they are good at what they do. Cosmos wouldn't be able to hide for long."

"She only needed to hide long enough to restore her strength and the strength of her Warriors," Gabranth reasoned, looking out the window to the people below. Numerous wisps were lined up and waited at a large door where a lady guided them in, one by one.

"That may be," Reks agreed, "but there was no telling what would happen if Jenova kept them under her control for an extended period of time. They might never have returned to normal."

"From what I understand," Gabranth started, turning his head back to see Reks out of the corner of his eye, "they still aren't."

Reks flinched, but continued. "While that may be, they at least have regained their senses. Besides, if I did not step in, the other Warriors could have fallen to Jenova's influence as well."

Gabranth fully turned around toward Reks and sat back in his chair. He leaned back and clasped his hand together, resting his chin in them. He was deep in thought. "You make a compelling argument," he finally said. "While I agree with you that taking action was necessary, you still broke a very sacred rule. Not to mention use a Pin that is meant only for Players. Such an action cannot go unpunished." Reks bowed his head, ready for whatever Gabranth was about to sentence. "… I hereby put you on Probation."

"… Probation, sir?"

"Until you are deemed worthy, you are not to guide any spirits to the World Crystal or participate in the Game, and your wings are temporarily revoked." With a snap of his finger (which Reks was honestly surprised he could do with all of that armor), Reks's wings disappeared. "How you spend your Probation to make yourself 'worthy' again is up to you."

"Meaning, sir?" Reks said while investigating his back, finding it strange that his wings are now gone.

"If you truly thing Cosmos is in such danger, then you better go protect her!"

Reks was flabbergasted. He was so happy he could practically hug the armored man. "Th-Yes, sir!" He said, bowing even lower.

"Now, get out of my office before you taste my blade!" he shouted, now standing and brandishing his combined Chaos Blade and Highway Star. Reks quickly turned and ran down the length of the carpet before stopping and turning around to place his illegal Player Pin on Gabranth's desk. After that was done, he was once again running toward the exit.

Before he exited the doors, however, he stopped and turned his head. "You've changed, Gabranth. You're not the same man 'I' remember." Reks then left the room, eager to rejoin his brothers at the Sanctuary.

Gabranth sighed and slumped back into his chair. "Even though I did not deserve it, I received a second chance. I am going to make it count." He lifted his helmet and examined his own reflection in it. "If only you really knew… What you did back there has saved us all."

(-)

Back in the mall, a few minutes before the Awakening of Jenova, a tall, silver-haired young man, pale and fair, even paler-looking in the artificial lights of the mall, walked beside a rather tan teenage girl with lavender hair tied in a loose ponytail, with her hands behind her head. The man wore a rather nice, navy-blue suit. One look at him and people would know that he was all business. So, him walking beside a girl wearing a baggy t-shirt under a hoodie with various Mario enemies printed all over it and baggy jeans just looked… surreal.

"Yo, Wally, what'chyu gettin' fer yer Maitron?" the lavender-haired girl asked her companion.

The stoic and serious looking male seemed to be scanning the windows, perhaps looking for that perfect present, if the young woman didn't know her friend well enough already. The young man was just looking for said present.

"I had seen some nice jewelry here the other day, Prishe," the young man answered. "This mall is so large, I sometimes forget where I'm going, but once I get my bearings, I should be able to find it alright."

Prishe locked her hands behind her head as the two of them walked together. "Ya know, some days, I wonder how yer able ta be so successful when ya can barely remember important things, like what day it is, what _date_ it is, how old you are, my birthday-"

The young man froze, growing even paler, if that was possible. _"… Oh no… don't tell me I forgot __**again**__…"_

"Yeah, it was three days ago, man," she answered, reading the look on his face. He groaned and rubbed his forehead. He cursed himself for being so… scatterbrained. He tried so hard to look very professional, but, for the life of him, things _constantly_ slip his mind. The thing he hated to forget most was Prishe's birthday. She was his best friend, after all, as strange as that seemed. The two were so opposite, but that's what they liked about each other: She was impulsive; he was calculating. She was lively; he was calm. She was fierce; he was cool. She was the fire to his ice. Normally, the two cancel each other out, but, if you bring them together just right, they make water, a necessary ingredient for life.

He sighed. "I am _so_ sorry, Prishe. Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

"Yeah, sure, you can get me some ice cr-"

Then, out of nowhere, a bright flash consumed the mall. "Wally" had to shield his eyes just to prevent himself from going blind.

"Prishe, did you see that? Are you alright?" he asked his companion. She was silent. Too silent. It's rare for her to ever _not_ talk. Upon closer examination, she wasn't just silent, she was _frozen_. She was in the middle of taking a step, but never brought her foot back down. "… Prishe?" He looked around and noticed that everyone else around him… were suddenly crystal statues of various shapes and colors. "Wally" nearly jumped out of his suit. "What-What in the world? What's going on?" Just as suddenly as all the weird stuff happened, the young man doubled-over in pain, clutching his chest, feeling something painfully being ripped out.

"_Forgive me, my Warriors…"_ he heard a voice enter his head. The voice, it was soothing and motherly and… strangely familiar. _"But, your companions need your help."_

"_My help?"_ he thought. _"But, what 'companions'? Prishe is right here and needs my help, but, I can fee that this isn't helping her. And, your voice… why do I know it?"_

Just as suddenly as the pain and the familiar voice came, it went, as if just a momentary dream. Time seemed to return to normal as well since Prishe continued her interrupted step and sentence.

"-eam." When she saw that "Wally" was now in front of her, she did a double-take. "Whoa, wait, what? Weren't you behind me a moment ago?"

"Wally" grabbed Prishe's shoulders and scanned her face. "Prishe, are you alright?"

She gave him a questioning look. "Uh, I'm fine, dude. Why shouldn't I be?"

"Wally" just shook his head. "No, it's nothing. Forgive me. I think I might need a little ice cream myself."

"Blood sugar running a bit low?" she laughed. "Alright, let's head to the food court. It's just right down here- whoa…"

At first, "Wally" wasn't sure what she would be "whoa"-ing, until he looked himself.

"… Oh my God."

(-)

"…_tz…"_

"_Bar…"_

"_**Bartz**__..."_

"Mmmng… Five more minutes…" Bartz mumbled, while turning over.

"**AWAKE, BARTZ!"**

Bartz shrieked and snapped awake, flailing as he tried to balance himself in… this empty void of space?

"… Oooooh-kaaaaaaay… Where am I?" he asked, looking around. "Yeah, I know, 'most original question to ask there, Bartz ol' boy.'" His body flipped over, but since gravity didn't seem to exist, he wasn't technically upside-down. He pouted and crossed his arms. "Am I in the Void again?"

"**Bartz..."**

"…? Yeeeeees, deep, disembodied voice from the darkness?" Bartz looked around, though trying to find the owner of the disembodied voice proved fruitless. "… I'll have you know my father said I shouldn't talk to strangers, especially deep, scary voices in a dark place."

"**Bartz, I need you to Awaken."**

"Uh… Like, wake up from this dream because I'm tryin', pal."

"**No. Awaken your true self."**

"Oooooh… Nah, that's okay. Been there; done that."

The deep, disembodied voice laughed a rather deep and creepy cackle.

"Okay… warn me next time before you're about to do that," Bartz pleaded as he shivered. "_Sooooo_ creepy."

"**You are not fully Awakened. Part of you- the true you- still yet Sleeps."**

Bartz just looked at the darkness like it was crazy. "… When you want to make sense, let me know. I'll be over here, dreaming about chocobo again."

Suddenly, two, red lights flashed in the darkness… Two lights that looked suspiciously like eyes.

"Uh… Okay, filing this under 'nightmare.'"

The darkness began to growl.

"Uh, yup. Deeeeefinitely a nightmare."

The darkness suddenly became illuminated with rows upon rows of white spikes… or, after putting two and two together, white _teeth_.

"**Awaken… UNTO CHAOS!"** the voice said, threatening to swallow Bartz whole.

Bartz desperately tried to swim away, but he was doing nothing more than hopelessly flailing in air. "OH SWEET MOTHER OF-"

_SMACK!_

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!" Bartz shrieked. "WHAT THE FLYING FAGITORY WAS THAT FOR?" he screamed as he rubbed his _really_ sore cheek. "God, man… How many times does that make this today, 3? 4?"

He soon felt someone grabbing his shoulders. He saw that it was Zidane. "Bartz, are you alright?" he asked while his eyes were scanning Bartz.

"Uh… yeah, I'm okay. Just a bad dream. Why?"

"Bartz, we can read your mind, remember?" Squall answered. "We saw that, too."

"And, the way my tail was frizzin', that was no normal dream," Zidane answered.

"Besides, you didn't see what Terra saw," Vaan answered, apparently awake as well.

Terra shook her head. "There was Chaos energy coming out of you. A lot of it."

"What?" Bartz suddenly started pricking and prodding his body, making sure everything was alright for himself.

Cosmos had recovered enough strength to rise from her throne and walk over to Bartz. She kneeled and scanned his eyes. "… I am not sure what that dream meant, Bartz, but if it caused such a large amount of Chaos energy to radiate from you, I doubt it was good news. What did you see?"

Bartz shivered, not wanting to remember it. "Not a whole lot, really. Just some voice telling me to 'Awaken my true self,' whatever _that_ means."

Cosmos closed her eyes to think for a moment. "I am not sure what that voice meant by 'true self' as well. But, if it involves such immense Discord, it cannot be good." She returned to her feet, not being able to see anything wrong with her own eyes. "Bartz… and you other three as well," she motioned to Squall, Zidane, and Vaan. "I am asking you four to not participate in any future battles with the Forces of Chaos, not until we have solved your current problem."

"Aw, what?" Vaan protested. "But, that only happened to Bartz! We're fine!"

"Even if that may be, it would be better to play it safe than sorry in this situation," Cosmos reasoned.

"But-" Vaan tried to protest more, but Bartz cut him off.

"No, you're right, Cosmos. I understand."

"Come on, Bartz, you can't seriously be saying that you're _okay_ with this?" Vaan argued. "What are they going to do without _four_ of us. Each of the newly Awakened Chaos Warriors are stronger than the last. We _barely_ made it out of this one **alive**. We're **not** going to be so lucky next time."

"Uh, if I may interrupt," Tidus interjected. "Yuna wants to join our ranks, and, before you say anything, yes, she knows full well what she's getting into."

"Besides," Cloud continued, "didn't you say your cousins were Awakening?"

"Yeah, but-"

Before Vaan could shoot down that idea, Cloud and Squall fell to one knee, clutching their heads as a surge of memories flooded their minds, and, due to the shared mental connection, had Bartz, Zidane, and Vaan following suit.

"_Sora! Donald! Goofy!" the three introduced themselves._

"_Even if we're far away, we'll never forget each other."_

"_Your light… Don't lose sight of it."_

"… _Think you can handle this many?"_

"_Well… might be tough if one more shows up."_

"_Hmph… Then that'll be the one that I take care of."_

"_What, you're fighting too?"_

As more and more of these memories, their memories, of a world, or rather, several worlds filled with living Darkness and… Disney characters(?), Squall and Cloud suddenly shouted- "SORA!" then groaned and clutched their heads again.

"… Figures. Another set of memories I don't want," Squall moaned under his breath.

"… And Sephiroth follows me wherever I go…" Cloud whined in agreement.

Over their whining, the two of them could hear the snickers of three brothers trying their best to stifle their laughter… The building pink in their cheeks was proving it was only a matter of time before they burst.

"So… _Leon_…"

"Oh no…" Squall groaned.

"How does it feel to lose to my 'amateur' cousin?" Bartz snickered.

"Oh, we _saw_ how he kicked both _your_ butt _and_ Cloud's…" Zidane chuckled.

"And, don't even get us _started_ on when you all tried to gang up on him…" Vaan added.

"Oh god, oh god! Tell me! Tell me!" Tidus begged, practically jumping up and down in impatience. The three of them told Tidus what they saw. They whispered it in his ear, and by the various faces Tidus made, he was enjoying the story just as much as the others were.

That was the breaking point. They couldn't stifle their laughter anymore and just feel over, barely able to breathe they were laughing so hard at this point. Cloud and Squall tried to hide their faces in shame.

Cosmos even had a little giggle, but quickly regained her composure. "If you are all rested and recovered, it is about time you return home."

Squall, still pink in the face in shame and anger, grabbed Bartz by the cape and dragged him along the ground. "Come on, you. We need to head back to the food court."

Bartz tried to catch his breath, gasping between words. "Okay… Okay… -coughcough- Hey, bros, tell them –cough- I'll be there in a few, 'kay?" Zidane and Vaan were still unable to talk, but they gave a thumbs-up single, noting they got the message.

(-)

When Bartz and Squall returned to the food court, as per usual, everyone close-by them had fainted upon their return. However, seeing as this was such a public place, this wasn't going unnoticed.

"… Oh my God."

Bartz looked up and noticed a blue-suited, white-haired young man and tan, lavender-haired woman in a sweatshirt, in any other situation, Bartz would be totally envious of running over and checking on everyone in the food court, asking them if they were okay. Bartz went pale.

"Uh-oh…"

"What?" Squall asked, until he saw what Bartz was looking at. "… Oh no…"

The young man was on his cell phone calling 911, reporting an attack of some sort at the mall.

"Yes, and I believe I may know who perpetrated the crime. There are only two people here in the food court who are currently conscious, one of which is Bartz Klauser."

~(-)~

**Aw, Tidus and Cloud bonding time, GO!**

**... Also, am I the only person who ships WoL and Prishe? I mean, I understand LightningxLight, but the way Prishe and WoL interacted in those extra scenes was just too cute.**

**And, ooh, things keep going from bad to worse "today" for Bartz, don't they? And, unfortunately for Bartz, I'm not quite done with him yet-**

**?: OBJECTION!"**

**? Hm *checks phone* … Oh, wait. *smacks head* My phone doesn't do that anymore.**

**?: YOU'RE NOT DONE WITH ME YET?**

***flails and fumbles with phone* … Oh, Bartz! Dude! That was uncanny! I totally couldn't tell the differenc- wait. Uh… what are you doing on this side of the 4****th**** wall?**

**Bartz: I'm beginning to feel like you really, **_**really**_** hate me.**

**NO! NO! GOD NO! You couldn't be farther from the truth!**

**Bartz: THEN WHAT THE CRAP ARE YOU DOING TO ME, WOMAN? I've been blown up, brainwashed and crazy, twice if you count your first fic, and now it looks like you're going to arrest me! AND IT'S ABOUT TO GET EVEN WORSE?"**

… **Uuuuuuh… yes?**

**Bartz: AND YOU'RE SAYING YOU "LIKE" ME?**

… **Yes?**

**Bartz: WHY?**

**BECAUSE I HAVE A PLAN, DAMNIT! I AM THE AUTHOR, AND WHAT I TYPE, GOES! I AM THE GOD OF YOUR DOMAIN AS BESTOWED UPON ME BY THE POWERS OF FANFICTION!**

**Bartz: …**

**Hey, look at it this way: At least I don't make you fall in love with Squall or Zidane or an OC based on me. I at least respect the characters that Square made.**

**Bartz: … Well, that's true.**

**Look, if it makes you feel better, do you want me to tell you what's going to happen next?**

**Bartz: … Well… alright.**

***whisper-whisper-whisper***

**Bartz: … Whoa.**

**I know, right?**

**Bartz: -sighs- … Alright, you **_**are**_** the Author, so I'm just going to have to deal with it, aren't I?**

**Yeah, pretty much. Besides, this story wouldn't be interesting if there wasn't drama.**

**Bartz: There is such a thing as too much, though.**

**But, that's why we have you, and Zidane, and Vaan, and Tidus! Comic relief, remember?**

**Bartz: But, what are you going to do about next chapter when we-*mphm*!**

**Whoa, whoa! Spoilers! They're just going to have to read the next chapter when it comes out.**

**Oh, and for all you reading out there, I think I'm going to make a little contest. See that icon up there? You know, the one next to the story. Weeeeeell, a little piece of corn isn't doing the best job of advertising this story to the people who haven't read this story yet. Shocking, I know. So, this is where you come in. You wanna draw something for me? Go right ahead. If I use your picture, I'll be sure to give you credit. However, **_**getting**_** the picture to me will be difficult. If you have something, send me a PM with a link to it. If the site eats it up (which I suspect it will), then I'll send you my e-mail address. Alright?**

**Okay, next chapter, Bartz and Squall arrested? With their Cosmos and Chaos energies now out of whack and the "secret" the closest ever to being blown, how can they hope to return to any sense of "normal"?**


	28. The Storm

**Okay, I said originally I was going to hold off on this story until KH3D comes out, but when you're thinking of **_**sequel**_** ideas to a story that's NOT EVEN FINISHED YET is a major problem. And, I figure I've got one, maybe two more chapters before KH3D comes out. Soooooo…**

**Bartz: Well, thank Cosmos for that. If what you told me is true-**

***stuffs mouth full of unwashed socks* NO. SPOILERS.**

**Bartz: *spits them out* OH, GOD, ARE THESE FROM MY LAUNDRY?!**

**Yes. You only have yourself to blame.**

**Bartz: *vomits in corner***

… **I only do this because I love you?**

**Bartz: You have a **_**weird**_** definition of love.**

**Well, you **_**did**_** break my nose.**

**Bartz: That was a muscle spasm! I didn't do it on purpose!**

**Uh-huh… **_**sure**_**. Now, get back on the other side of the fourth wall. I've got a chapter to write.**

**Bartz: Ugh, I'm going. I'm going. Gawd.**

~(-)~

News about the "bombing" at the mall traveled fast, and, meeting Bartz and Squall at the precinct, were tons of local reporters shoving microphones in the faces of the officers and themselves, trying to get answers on what happened. The officers refused to comment as they shoved Bartz and Squall into the precinct to interrogate them. The two were put in separate interrogation rooms to prevent them from making collaborating stories.

"_Of course, considering our new-found telepathy, I don't think separating us is going to work,"_ Bartz mentally told Squall. Squall mentally snickered. On their way to their individual interrogation rooms, they passed by Cloud and Zack, who both promptly spat out their coffees in shock and coughed furiously to clear their airways.

Zack was the first to regain his voice. "W-What's going on?! What's Bartz doing here?"

"Didn't you hear?" another officer asked. "There was a bombing down at the mall."

"I _know_ that!" Zack answered defensively. "I mean, what is _he_ doing _here_?!" Zack asked, pointing to Bartz and the precinct to punctuate the words he stressed.

"A caller reported that they were the perpetrators of the crime," the officer answered.

"What?! Bartz?" Zack almost did a double-take. "That's crazy-talk! The guy doesn't have a mean bone in his body!" He elbowed his partner. "Right, Cloud?"

Cloud was too busy thinking about what transpired earlier to really notice the conversation. Only when he was elbowed in the ribs that he realized that Zack was talking. "Huh? Oh, right, yeah."

Zack continued his argument with the officer as Cloud left his seat to watch the interrogation.

(-)

"Oh, come on!" Bartz said exasperated, throwing his hands up into the air. "You can't _honestly_ think I did this?!" he asked the two detectives who were interrogating him. The interrogation room that Bartz was in was cold, gray, and rather dark. There was one large mirror in the wall, but Bartz knew from watching enough NCIS and Law and Order that the mirror was for other detectives and the DA to watch the suspects inside the interrogation rooms, to find a new strategy to break them and get the information they need to prove the suspect's guilt. In the wall behind him was a small window, fenced and barred to prevent escape. Being confined in a small space like this made Bartz _very_ uncomfortable. First of all, it reminded him of being back in the hospital, and he only rather recently got _out_ of it. Secondly, Bartz just hated being forced to sit still in a small space for a long period of time. He just _needed_ to get out of here. And, lastly, he still had to make sure his cousins were okay.

Also, whenever Bartz shot a glance to the mirror, his reflection… His reflection would look back at him with those _abhorrent_ eyes and shoot him the most twisted grin he could manage. Bartz would always cringe and try his best to look away.

"Bartz Klauser…" started a young man with wild, red, spiked hair. He wore a pair of goggles on his head which also somewhat acted as a hairband, keeping his bangs out of his eyes. To the side of either of his eyes were red, facial stripes. He wore a black, business suit, though the jacket was open and it was generally untidy, reflecting his more laid-back personality. "Now, isn't this interesting?" he asked. "You got no beef with us, but, oooooh _boy_ does your school record play a different tune!" The red-haired detective threw an open file in Bartz's direction on the table, which Bartz stopped with a quick slap of his hand on the folder. "That's an awful lot of vandalism, kiddo." Bartz just folded his arms and pouted with a huff. "Oh, and let's not get _started_ on your, well, interesting family tree…" The detective threw another file at Bartz, this time; it stopped just in front of Bartz without any sort of interference from the young mime. Bartz eyes widened when he saw the name on the tab – "Reks Klauser."

"Oh, yeah, we know about him," the detective taunted. "Guess the apple doesn't fall that far from the-"

"YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH!" Bartz screamed, slamming his fists on the table. "How _dare_ you say bad things about my brother!"

The red-haired detective just smirked, and elbowed his partner in the ribs. "Uh-oh, Rude… I think we made him mad!"

Rude, the bald, sunglasses-wearing, goatee-having, suit-clad partner, smirked along with his partner. "That's some outburst. I don't think we'll have a problem convincing the jury of his guilt, Reno."

"I DIDN'T HURT ANYONE!" Bartz yelled defensively. "I DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH-" he stopped himself when he realized that, well, he was, albeit partially, responsible for what happened in the mall today. He shook his head. "I didn't hurt anyone," he repeated. _"Not there…"_ he mentally added.

"Ooooh, poor, lil, baby!" Reno comforted in an overly-sarcastic way. "Do you want your ba-ba?" Bartz was about two seconds from punching the detective clear through a wall before the door swung open.

(-)

Squall was also busy with an interrogation back in his room. However, unlike Bartz, Squall decided to invoke his right to silence. Not that the detectives, a blond, bobbed-cut female and a man with fairly-long, jet-black hair with his bangs pulled back to reveal a birthmark in the center of his forehead, didn't do their damnest to _get_ him to talk.

"Squall Leonhart Loire…" It sounded weird to Squall to hear his _full_ name used in this world. He was so mentally used to just Squall Loire, that the Leonhart unnerved him for a moment. But, true to form, Squall put his best stoic look back on in a heartbeat. "Despite your rather… intimidating looks, you're as clean as a whistle," the black-haired man stated, while eyeing the rather intimidating scar that, while healed long ago, still left a mark on his skin. "So, tell me, why would someone like you do something like that?" Squall just ignored them and looked out the fenced window.

The blond-haired female decided to sit in the seat across from Squall. Squall eyed her suspiciously, wondering what she was planning. "Squall," she began. "You didn't _want_ to do this, right? You were forced by Bartz." Squall just rolled his eyes. "Just, tell us what he did, and we can make sure you don't go down with him." She was trying to appeal to his conscious, to sell out Bartz to save his own skin. Squall was no coward. Besides, Squall knew they were innocent, and Bartz wouldn't even _think_ of letting Squall take the fall for something like this. Bartz would be the type to say he did it _if only_ to spare everyone else.

Squall decided to break his silence to say one thing and one thing only. "Go talk to a wall."

The blond detective clicked her tongue in annoyance as her hand balled up into a fist before her partner put his hand on her shoulder. Her hand relaxed, but she still remained otherwise tense.

"He's not talking, Elena," he said. "He's made that quite clear."

Elena took a moment to brush the bangs from her face. "He's a fool then, Tseng." She turned her attention back toward Squall. "When we find what we need to convict you, we're going to hang you with it so fast, your head will spin. You should have taken our deal when you had the chance."

(-)

"That's enough, detectives," the person who walked through the door in Bartz's interrogation room responded. He had short, silver hair and sea foam green eyes, also wearing a nice, but blue, business suit. When Bartz saw him, he immediately thought the guy looked a _hell_ of a lot like a certain seven-foot-long katana-wielder with a penchant for pears. "I need to speak with my client."

Reno spat in annoyance. "I don't remember Bartzy-fartsy here asking for a lawyer, least of all not _you_, Kadaj."

Bartz did a double-take at that nickname. "Wait, what did you just call me?!" Reno simply smirked one of his cocky grins and walked out with Rude not far behind. Bartz shot him a death-glare, and then pouted.

"_Well, this is unexpected," _he mentally sighed.

"_Something up?"_ Squall asked though their mental link.

"_Yeah, I just got a lawyer… who looks like he could be Sephiroth's kid…"_ Bartz sighed.

"… _Wow."_

"_You're tellin' me."_ Bartz proceeded to rub his forehead to try and massage the building headache. _"So, what about you?"_

Right on cue, the door to Squall's interrogation room opened up to reveal…

"… _Oh dear Hyne…"_ were the first words Squall could think of when he saw her.

"_What?"_

"_It's __**her**__…"_

"_Who?"_

"_Ultimecia."_

"_Wait, what?!"_

Yup, walking in, in her voluptuous, red dress and purple pumps, was none-other than Squall's destined enemy, the witch who controls time. Instead of wanting to kill Squall to free herself from the shackles of fate, she was here to _defend_ Squall from the shackles Fate was trying to restrain him in.

"… _Dude, if that's not irony, I don't know what is."_

"… _I'm glad you find this amusing."_

Bartz decided to break away from his mental conversation when he realized Kadaj was busy looking over various papers. "So, who're you?" Bartz finally thought to ask his Attorney.

Kadaj proceeded to sit down next to his client. "I'm Kadaj Hojo, Attorney at Law," the young man answered, offering his hand for Bartz to shake it. "Grandmother asked me to take your case."

"… 'Hojo'? Wait, like, Sephiroth Hojo?" Bartz asked, also while shaking Kadaj's extended hand.

Kadaj chuckled a bit. "Yes, he's my father." Kadaj swept the bangs from his eyes, and Bartz swore for a moment he saw his eyes shift to cat-like pupils. Bartz did a quick double-take, only to notice his eyes were the same as any other humans. Still, that moment unnerved him a bit as he felt a chill run down his spine. He decided to put his jacket on, hoping that he shivered because it was cold and not his nerves.

"So… does that make Cloud your…?"

"Brother? Yes, it does." Kadaj sorted his papers and reviewed the files in front of Bartz. "Hm… Family history of terrorism… This might be difficult."

"I AM **NOT** A TERROIST AND NEITHER WAS MY BROTHER!" Bartz protested, now standing up. "And, if you don't believe that, you can get out right now!" He emphasized the fact with a point toward the door.

"And, then what?!" Kadaj shouted back. "What would you do?! Defend yourself?! That's a sure-fire way to stare down the barrels of a firing squad!"

"'An attorney is _supposed_ to believe in their clients until the very end,' or did they not teach you that at Harvard?!"

Kadaj started laughing when he heard Bartz say that. "You play too many video games. Fantasy is nice, but this is real life. Wake up and face facts. You're in a _ton_ of trouble, and no amount of optimism is going to get you out of it. Right now, you need a strategy. Considering your outbursts, 'Not guilty by mental disease or defect' might be the best course of-"

"I. AM. NOT. CRAZY!" Bartz shrieked. "I did nothing wrong! WHY WON'T ANYONE BELIEVE ME?!"

"Bartz! Calm down!" Kadaj ordered. "You're making a scene!"

"I _AM_ PERFECTLY CALM!"

"THEN, WHY ARE YOU YELLING?!"

Bartz unclenched his fists and relaxed his body when, he realized, he _wasn't_ calm. He went and sat back down in his chair, though his legs bounced about on his toes, adrenaline still pumping through his veins. "S-Sorry… I don't like being enclosed like this…" He rested his head on his hands. "It makes me uncomfortable."

"Yeah, well, if you're found guilty, you'll have to get used to it." Bartz tensed up again when he heard Kadaj say that. "Not that I'll let them."

Bartz got up again and began pacing around the room. "What makes you – them – _everyone_ so sure I did it?!"

"You and your friend were the only ones who weren't found unconscious in the hot-zone. The bomb had no effect on you," Kadaj answered matter-of-factly. "They believed that the two of you built up some sort of immunity to _whatever_ toxin you used in it."

"… Wait, that's it?" Bartz asked. "_That's_ their whole case?"

"Well, yes, they have no physical evidence, yet, to link you or your friend to the case. I believe they're focusing more on you since you have famil-" Kadaj cut himself off from finishing that sentence from the look Bartz was giving him. Obviously, that was a touchy subject, and he really didn't need Bartz flying off the handle _again_. "So far, it's a circumstantial case."

Something clicked inside Bartz's head. "What if I told you that I _was_ affected by this 'bomb'?"

Kadaj was intrigued. "Go on."

"Okay, I don't really remember _seeing_ a bomb go off, but I think _something_ happened since I started to hallucinate."

"About what?"

"… My mother." Bartz scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, this is kinda embarrassing for me to say, but I _swear_, at the time, I thought Jenova was my mother."

Kadaj looked at Bartz like he had two heads or something. "… You thought my grandmother was your mother?"

"Yeah, I know. Don't rub it in." Bartz shook his head, trying to fight back the terrible memories that flashed though his mind. "But, this is good, right? This is proof that I didn't do it!"

Kadaj shook his head. "Well, I wouldn't say it's proof, but it's a good start. They might run some tests on you to make sure of your claim."

"Tests?" Bartz repeated nervously. "Um… What kind of 'tests'?"

"Probably blood samples to look for whatever chemicals were used in the bomb to see if your claim is true." Kadaj eyed Bartz suspiciously. Considering the fact that Bartz _looked_ perfectly fine made it seem unlikely, but Bartz suddenly got rather nervous.

"Uh… D-Does it have to be blood tests?"

"What, don't like needles?" Kadaj chuckled.

Bartz averted his gaze, not really wanting to answer the question…

(-)

"Wait, that's bomb-boy?" Reno asked Cloud, who's been watching their interrogation the whole time. The speakers in the room were currently off. Client-Lawyer confidentiality, of course, though Cloud told him the story of "the terrorism attack at the track."

"Yeah." The moment of the "bomb" flashed in Cloud's mind. The white, hot spheres of crackling electricity rose from the ground, providing a momentary light source for the two to see. And, in that split second before the spheres exploded, Cloud could see Bartz's face. While Bartz was one to normally wear his expressions like it were clothes, to see that look of pure _terror_ on his face…

"… Huh… Why would a guy who _was_ blown up suddenly decide to blow _others_ up?" Reno asked himself out loud.

Cloud knew, however, that Bartz or bombs had nothing to do with what happened at the mall. Well, the bombs, at least, he can be certain of. "What if he's right? What if he didn't do it?"

Reno clicked his tongue both in thought and annoyance. "Well, that could be true, but my gut tells me he's hiding _something_."

Rude, being the more level-headed one of the pair, decided to put in his two-Gil. "Perhaps he knows what _really_ happened."

Reno shook his head. "If that was true, why won't he say anything?"

Cloud remained silent. The truth was Bartz _did_ know exactly what happened. The problem was he, Squall, nor even Cloud himself _could_ say anything about it. If they said that Cloud's grandmother suddenly got magic powers, brainwashed a couple of his friends who _also_ had magic powers into killing everyone who served a Goddess living in a parallel world where a war raged that featured themselves who also _weren't_ themselves… Just telling _himself_ what happened sounded insane, even though Cloud knew every word of it was true.

"Perhaps he's afraid we won't believe him?" Rude stated simply. "He did get rather defensive when we showed him Reks's file."

"So… you think we should switch tactics?" Reno asked.

"You can attract more bees with honey than vinegar," Rude answered plainly.

"If I may make a suggestion…" Cloud began. "Perhaps you should put Squall and Bartz in the same interrogation room."

"And, what good's that gonna do?" Reno asked.

Cloud smirked for the slightest of moments. "If you haven't realized, Bartz is a bit of an idiot. But, he _is_ smart enough to know that much. When it comes to big decisions, he often asks people who are smarter than him what he should do. Because of this, he tends to not act until he's sure he's making the right move."

Rude's eyes flashed with understanding. "And, that's where Squall comes in."

Cloud nodded. "Unlike Bartz, Squall's more level-headed, more intelligent, and handles big decisions with much greater clarity. However, it's because of this you'll probably won't get any information directly out of Squall, either. To put it simply: They're the key to each other's lock."

"So, puttin' them in the same room will turn the keys…" Reno surmised. "I like it. Simple, yet effective. But, why're you bein' so helpful? Won't this put your friends away if things work out?"

Cloud shook his head. "No, they're innocent; I can tell you that much. They were just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

(-)

As per Cloud's suggestion, Squall and his lawyer were led out of his interrogation room and into Bartz's. When the door opened in Bartz's interrogation room, the both of them were genuinely surprised to see each other. Squall took his seat next to Bartz, though a nervous look was shot between them.

"_What are they up to?"_ Bartz asked through their mental link.

"_Dunno, but I don't like it,"_ Squall answered.

Reno and Rude sat across from the two of them like they did with Bartz before, staring them down in hopes one of them would break. For the first time, Bartz really _was_ feeling the pressure. Or, maybe it was because there were so many stifling auras in the room. And, even though he couldn't see him through the mirror-window, he could still sense Cloud's crystal close by, meaning Cloud himself was as well.

Kadaj took the moment to relay what he talked to Bartz about with the detectives. "Well, now that you're all back, my client has willingly decided to volunteer a blood sample." The detectives eyed Bartz and Kadaj suspiciously. "My client wants to clear this whole mishap up."

Bartz became defensive. "Whoa, whoa, _whoa_. I did _not_ agree to a blood test."

"Bartz, it's the only way to prove what happened!"

"But-!" Bartz shook his head furiously, all of his thoughts crashing into each other and not being able to make sense of any of them. _"Squall! Should I?! Should we?! What if the Jenova cells come up?! What if something happens?! Idon'twanttobeexperimentedonandmy brotherscouldbeintroubleanda ndmagiccouldbediscoveredand-"_

"Bartz!" Squall shouted forcefully. Bartz took that as a cue to not have a mental conversation with Squall as he stopped rambling in his head. Squall grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him off to one of the corners of the room to have a more private conversation. "If worse comes to worse and they _do_ appear, doctors might assume it's some sort of new disease or biological attack. At best, we would be quarantined until they can find a cure or determine it's not harmful or dormant. At worst, well…"

"… At worst, we'll be blamed for the incident, won't we?" Bartz guessed, shuddering. The two remained silent for a short while, lost in their own thoughts as they reflected on their lives and what kind of legacy they would leave behind if it came to that. Squall sighed and placed his hand on Bartz's right shoulder. It was probably the closest thing that Bartz would get to a hug from Squall.

"_**Your fear… SHALL LEAD YOU TO CHAOS!"**_

Their eyes went wide as the voice from Bartz's nightmare reverberated throughout their minds. They clutched their heads as their bodies suddenly became excessively hot. Bartz threw off his jacket to try and cool himself down, only to notice strange, black boils running up his arms. Shooting a quick glance at Squall, Bartz noticed the same black boils were beginning to form on Squall's own body. Bartz began to cough furiously, coughing up… something. Looking at his hand, it was disgusting, black _ooze_, and more of the ooze was forcing its way up Bartz's throat, spewing it all over the floor. That's when he felt it… Something was _there_… In his chest… Clutching his heart… Pouring Discord into it… More… More… _MORE_…

Both Bartz and Squall screamed and clutched their chest. The Discord and Harmony energies began to clash in their hearts, and their bodies, not being able to handle the sudden shift in power and balance, began to seize. Their bodies trembled and shook as the detectives began to hold them down while the lawyers called for an ambulance.

Cloud came rushing into the room to help when he saw the panicked looks on everyone's faces toward the two who went to sit in the corner and talk. When he made it inside, Reno and Rude were struggling to keep them retrained.

"Man, for a couple of twigs, they're pretty strong!" Reno grunted as the sweat began to trickle down his face.

"What happened?!" Cloud demanded.

Reno had his hands full, so Rude answered for him. "Black vomit. Black boils. Seizure."

When Cloud heard those symptoms, he went pale. "Geo… stig… ma…" he mumbled to himself out loud. Reno and Rude looked up when they thought they heard Cloud say something, but Cloud shook his head, indicating they should ignore it.

Cloud made his way toward them as fast as he could. Their bodies were still trembling under the effects of the seizure, and their eyes were mostly rolled back into their head. However, the few times that their eyes came out from hiding, Cloud could see it… they're eyes were shifting between normal pupils and the cat-like ones they wore earlier that day.

Cloud's eyes darted back and forth between Squall and Bartz. _"I need to get them out of the room."_

Cloud excused himself for a moment to get more help, or at least that's what he told the detectives. Cloud returned to the area right outside of the interrogation room and summoned his Crystal. The green orb flashed into his hand and he gripped it with anxiety. "Cosmos," Cloud spoke into his Crystal. "Bartz and Squall are sick."

"Oh dear…" the Crystal responded, projecting Cosmos's voice. "I thought I had sensed something wrong when I sensed a growing in Discord. What of Zidane and Vaan? Ever since earlier, I cannot seem to connect with any of them."

Cloud was stunned into silence. "Cosmos, I'll call you right back," he said while pulling out his cell phone and dialed up Vaan. He listened anxiously as the line buzzed several times, indicating that it was, in fact, on. However, there was no answer. Cloud quickly hung up and then called Zidane's phone. It was the same story: The phone rang, but there was no answer. Cloud banged the wall with his fist in frustration. "Cosmos, I don't know," he spoke again to the Crystal. "I can't get in touch with them."

"Do you know where they are, at least?" Cosmos asked. Cloud then remembered that Zidane and Vaan mentioned that their cousins, Sora and Roxas, were currently at the hospital. If he had to guess, the two of them were there as well. "Yeah, I think so. I'm going to head over now and see for myself."

Cloud had to move fast. He rushed to his locker as he grabbed his black bike-helmet and jacket. Zack noticed Cloud's frantic actions.

"Whoa, Cloud, where're you off to in such a hurry?" he asked as he noticed Cloud stuffed a beautiful, green orb in his pocket.

Cloud didn't answer. Heck, he didn't even _hear_ the question. He was out the door in a flash leaving a bewildered Zack behind.

Cloud started up his bike and popped a Bluetooth headset in his ear. He pressed the button and instructed his phone to call Tidus.

(-)

Tidus was sweeping up the flower shop that Firion owned. Since living with Firion, Tidus helped a bit around the shop. Sure, he didn't know anything about flowers, but he agreed to help Firion in any way he could for being such a good friend when Tidus needed it. Soon, Tidus felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He whipped it out to notice that Cloud was the one calling him.

Lightning was watching him from the counter, wearing a bored look as usual. When she noticed Tidus take out his cell phone, Tidus could feel her green eyes boring into the back of his skull and gulped. "Uh… Sorry, Light… I need to take this."

"You already went on break today. Make it fast," she ordered.

"Y-Yes, ma'am…" he gulped. He hit the answer button then put it to his ear. "Is this important, Cloud, because a very angry Light is watching."

"Do you know Sora or Roxas' cell phone numbers?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

"Uh… yeah, why? Is something wrong?" he asked, hearing the twinge of panic in Cloud's voice.

Cloud was weaving his way between traffic, trying to frantically get to the hospital. "Bartz and Squall started showing signs of Geostigma."

"Uh, Geo-what-now?" Tidus asked. Lightning was now curious.

"Geostigma," Cloud repeated. "It's a disease linked to those who were infected with Jenova cells."

"And, you think they might have it, too?" Tidus asked.

"It's better to be safe th_**WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHR!**_"

Cloud was cut off by the sound of blaring sirens from an ambulance coming from behind him. Like the cars behind him and in front of him, he pulled over to the side to let them through. Cloud grunted as he saw the ambulance whir by. If magic was supposed to be a secret, they weren't doing a very good job of keeping it that way.

Tidus moved the phone away from his ear when the ambulance whirled by. "You do know I _like_ hearing, right, Cloud?"

"Sorry," Cloud apologized. Cloud assumed that was the ambulance carrying Bartz and Squall. "So, hurry-"

"Don't worry! I am!" Tidus whined. "I'll be right back." He hung up on Cloud and turned around to Lightning. "Uh, Light, I gotta make a quick phone call…" Lightning pretended to be doing other things, and Tidus took this as a sign she wasn't paying attention. "… Okaaaaay…" Tidus pulled up his contact list and dialed Sora. After three buzzes, the line connected.

"Hello?" A woman answered Sora's phone.

Tidus was caught a bit off guard. "Uh, hello? Can I talk to Sora, please?"

"I'm afraid Sora's sleeping. He's not feeling well," she answered. "May I ask who's calling?"

"Uh, Tidus, ma'am." Just then, something clicked in Tidus's mind. "Am I talking to Aqua?"

"Tidus?! Is that you?!" she said, clearly surprised.

"Yeah, it's me. How are you?" he chuckled.

"I'm well! I'm well!" she giggled. "How about yourself?"

"Good! Good!" he answered, just as cheery.

"What suddenly prompted you to call Sora out of the blue?"

"Uh, actually, I was hoping to talk to Vaan and Zidane. Are they in?"

"No, they stepped out a while ago. I don't understand what's taking them so long…" Something seemed off to Aqua. "Wait. How did you know they were here?"

Tidus felt the color drain from his face. "Uh… Zidane… told… me?"

The line was uncomfortably silent for some time. "Oh, so you're friends with everyone, too!"

Tidus inwardly sighed. "Yeah, I had no idea that Sora and Bartz were actually cousins, though."

"Well, when they get back, I'll let them know you called." She moved to hang up the phone.

"WAIT!" Tidus called through the line. Aqua heard it and put the phone back to her ear. "Actually, you need to head to the emergency room!"

"What, why?"

"Bartz is being checked in!"

"WHAT?!" the shriek was loud enough to stir Sora and Roxas from sleep. "What happened?"

"Mom, what's going on?" Roxas asked groggily.

"Bartz is being rushed to the hospital," she answered. The other three in the room shared the same, horrified look.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Terra demanded.

"I'm trying to find out now!" Aqua answered. "What happened?!"

Tidus shook his head. "I don't know the full details, but a friend told me they got really sick."

(-)

Firion was in the back room, completing yet another bouquet. This particular bouquet was one of their more popular ones made of only four, different flowers: Cheerful Winds, a strangely feather-like flower that lined the back of the bouquet, Trance Monkeys, bright, pink flowers that spiked upward and filled the front, and a single Lion Heart, a white bloom with a black center as busy as a lion's mane, in the center. Firion also added a few Galbana Lilies to this order as per customer request. On the table in the back room near this partially complete bouquet was a small TV that Firion would watch the news on, just to stay on top of current events. The TV was in black-and-white, but the headline present on the Televison read:

BREAKING NEWS: TERRORIST ATTACK AT LOCAL MALL. TWO SUSPECTS ARRESTED.

Two teenage boys were arrested, suspected to be linked to the attack. Bomb still unrecovered.

The reporter on screen in a burgundy suit held a microphone in her hand. "I repeat, if you were at the mall earlier today, please get yourself over to the hospital as soon as possible. I have just received word that the two suspects arrested earlier may in fact be the first ones showing signs of being hit by what is now being classified as a biological attack. We have been given permission to release their names to the public: Bartz Klauser and Squall Loire, both seventeen and students at Dissidia High."

"What the?!" Firion asked, now fully paying attention to the news. He was in the middle of placing a Cheerful Wind when he heard Bartz's name on the news. A short moment later, the feather-like flower in his hand turned black. Firion was caught completely off-guard and threw the flower on the table in shock. The rest of the bouquet soon followed suit. If Firion didn't see it happen with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it.

"Tidus! Claire!" Firion shouted from the back room. He had _no_ idea what was going on, but it definitely _wasn't_ natural.

That instantly caught the two's attention. It was rare for Firion to use Lightning's real name. The only reason that would _ever_ happen was if something really, really bad was happening, and he needed her attention _now_. The last time Firion called Lightning "Claire" was when he was watching the chocobo race that nearly killed Cloud and Bartz.

Tidus and Lightning ran into the back room where Firion did his flower arranging. It wasn't very often Tidus got to come back here, mainly because, despite Tidus's sport skills, he was a bit of a klutz. Firion wanted to be sure Tidus didn't mess up any of his work. The first thing Tidus noticed was the black "feather" in Firion's hands, and nearly had a heart attack.

"Firion, what's wrong?" Lightning asked.

Firion was mulling over the "feather" and shot occasional glances to the news. _"It's impossible…"_ he thought. _"There's no way… But… it's almost like the flowers… It's almost like they know…"_

Tidus was watching the news, eyes growing wide when he saw when he started putting two and two together.

"Tidus? Tidus? Are you still there?" Aqua asked through the phone.

Tidus snapped out of it when he realized he was still on the phone. "Oh, geeze, I'm sorry, Aqua! Is there a TV in the room that gets cable?"

Aqua looked at the TV and turned it on to check, not that Tidus could see. It only got one channel, but it was the only one they needed. If their jaws could hit the floor, they would have.

"Wh-What in the world?!"

"Oh my god!"

"What the hell happened?!"

"SORA!"

"Sorry… Mom… That kinda slipped out… Heh-heh-heh…"

Aqua got up and put her magenta cardigan on. "Tidus, I have to go, I'm giving you to Sora now," she said as she threw the phone at Sora. Sora juggled the phone a few times before he finally caught it with a sigh. "Terra, watch the boys."

Terra got up and put his hands on her shoulders. "Wait, Aqua. _I'll_ go." Terra glared at the screen. According to the news, the patients were being airlifted to the Radiant Garden Hospital a few towns over for treatment on this unknown disease. He didn't mean to, but his grip on Aqua's shoulders tightened ever so slightly.

Aqua shook her head lightly. "Terra, I know what you're thinking – this wasn't your fault."

Terra looked away from her, unable to deny the fact that he did feel guilty for what happened. "I know that… but, still… I… I feel like I need to do this."

Aqua sighed and bowed her head. "Fine… If you feel you must…" Terra nodded and smiled, and then was quickly out the door.

"Sora? Sora?!" Tidus shouted through the phone.

Sora put his ear to the phone. "What's up, Tidus?"

"I'll call you right back. I've got a _really_ bad feeling about something. Talk to you in a bit," he answered before he hung up his phone. Tidus stepped out and nearly snapped at his phone as he ordered it to call Cloud.

After a few buzzes, Cloud picked up on his end. "Hello?"

"Cloud, got an update for you," Tidus answered, heading toward the outside for a private call.

"Shoot," he answered as he continued to dangerously weave through traffic, now only a few blocks away from the hospital.

"Bad news, I think Vaan and Zidane got it, too. Not 100% sure, though."

"What makes you say that?"

"Their flowers went black."

Cloud inwardly cursed. Back in _that_ war, when Firion told everyone that his dream was to fill the world with "wild roses," Cloud and Terra both liked the idea, and decided to adopt the dream themselves as a way to give themselves a reason to fight. Soon, Tidus and the rest of the warriors had adopted the dream as well, all agreeing to want to see a world like that. Upon Awakening, Cloud and Tidus (and probably Bartz too, considering the bouquets that he always brought Cloud) realized certain flowers were based on themselves, or, perhaps more accurately, _tied_ to themselves, much like their Crystals were, if them turning black out-of-the-blue was any sort of indication.

"They're being airlifted to the Radiant Garden Hospital, according to the news," Tidus continued.

"Shit," Cloud outwardly cursed this time.

"Hey, Cloud?" Tidus asked.

"What?"

"You said you know what this… Geo-who-it's-thing is… Do you know how it's cured?"

Cloud sighed. "Yeah, they need to soak in untainted Lifestream from the Planet."

"… Are you still speaking English right now?"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Regardless, I think we need to get at least Vaan and Zidane out of the hospital. If they find out Zidane has a _tail_…"

"… Yeah, that could be bad…" Tidus agreed. "What about Squall and Bartz?"

"Nothing I can do about them right now." Cloud parked his motorbike in a rather half-assed manner, obviously in a hurry. "I'm at the hospital right now."

"… So, what are you gonna do?"

"… I have no idea," Cloud admitted.

Soon, Tidus heard the bell that hung over the door ring, indicating the door was opened. Tidus whipped around to see Firion had run out of the shop, apron off and in a general frenzy. "You alright, Firion?"

"I'm heading out," Firion said curtly, whipping out his keys and hitting a button causing his car to beep letting its owner know that its alarm was disarmed.

"Uh… where are you going, exactly?" Tidus asked while he was watching his friend buzz about like an angry hornet.

Firion was half-way in his car when he stopped and sighed. "… Tidus, there's been an unfortunate update. Vaan… Zidane… They were found at the hospital experiencing similar symptoms to Squall and Bartz, and were shipped off with them."

Tidus went pale. Tidus threw off his apron and hopped in the front seat. "I'm coming, too!" he demanded.

Firion would have protested if he didn't see the absolutely dire look on Tidus's face. He sighed and started up the car. "Fine. Hang on!" Firion pulled out and was now flying down the road on their way to the hospital in Radiant Garden.

"Tidus! What's going on?" Cloud asked, Tidus now remembering he was on the phone.

"Is that Cloud?" Firion asked.

"Yeah," Tidus answered. "Cloud?"

"What?"

"You just missed them. They've been shipped off with the others."

"… Crap." Cloud sighed and ran his fingers through his spiky, blond hair. "Alright, I'll pick up Terra and meet you guys there as soon as I can."

"Gotcha," Tidus answered. "Talk to you later." And, with that, both ends closed the lines. Firion fiddled with the radio in the car until he found the news station tracking the current emergency.

(-)

"Uuuuugh…" Bartz slowly stirred awake. His eyes slowly opened to reveal- "… Oh crap, I'm here again." -the same black emptiness from his nightmare. He sighed as he righted himself into a sitting position. "Great, as if this day couldn't get any **friggin'** worse."

"**Hello again, Bartz…"**

"… I just _haaaaaaaad_ to jinx it, didn't I?" He glared at the darkness with the same patented icy stare of a certain "solitary" lion. "What?!" he barked.

"**Now, now… no need to be so **_**hostile**_**…"** the dark voice hissed. **"I was just saying hello…"**

"Cut the crap!" Bartz spat. "I've had a really freaking, **bad** day, and I don't need you making it any worse!"

The dark voice sighed. **"I'm not here to do anything. I swear."**

"Uh-huh… suuuure you are," Bartz said, each word dripping with sarcasm. "That's what all disembodied voices from the darkness say before you're nothing more than a puppet in their grand scheme of things. No thanks. Been there – done that, and not interested in doing it again."

"**Hmph,"** the dark voice snorted. A snapping sound reverberated throughout the darkness, and, for the first time, Bartz felt the pull of gravity in this weird limbo. Unfortunately, his head was pointing in the "down" direction.

"Whoa-what?! Whoa-whoa-WHOOOOOA!" Bartz blurted out as he flailed his arms to try and right himself as he fell further downward into the dark abyss. Falling through a layer of dark mist, Bartz could see where the pull of gravity was finally leading him: A strange, stain-glass pillar rising up from the darkness. On said pillar, there was a picture of himself, asleep, and holding his purple crystal in his hand. In a ring bordering the circle were Bartz's mastery stars, three taking up a section, the middle one being bigger than the other two. Inside the bordered circle was another smaller circle filled with seven even smaller circles, though three of them were obscured by Bartz's picture. Inside the circles he could see were Zidane, Vaan, and Squall, also appearing to be asleep. The last of the picture was filled with a wide, grassy plain, with little swirls of wind and chocobo feathers in the grass. The pillar itself was of an overall green hue.

As Bartz got closer to the pillar, gravity seemed to let up slightly as his descent slowed, allowing him to flip over and land gracefully on his feet (although he stumbled a bit before landing). Bartz walked in a circle along the edge of the pillar, shooting occasional glances over the side, seeing nothing but a black expanse bellow. He shuddered to think what would happen if he fell.

"**Do you like it?"** the voice asked, its glowing, red eyes two, distant stars in the darkness.

Bartz ran his hand over the glass on the pillar. It was strangely warm to the touch. "Where am I?" Bartz asked the two, distant lights.

"**Somewhere we could have a more… private… discussion,"** the voice answered simply. **"I want you to answer a question for me."**

"If I do, can I go?"

"**That depends on your answer."**

Bartz sighed. He wasn't sure how he got here, so he didn't know how he was going to get out. As much as he didn't like it, the voice seemed to have all the answers. He returned to the center of the pillar and pouted. "Fine. What?"

"**Who are you?"**

Bartz did a double-take. "… What kind of stupid question is that?!"

"**Answer it, if you're so sure."**

Bartz pounded his fist on his chest. "I am Bartz Klauser!"

The voice chuckled darkly. **"**_**Are**_** you so sure?"**

Bartz gave the red lights a confused look. "Of course I'm sure. Who else would I be?"

"**Correct me if I'm wrong, but, a few months ago, you didn't even realize there was another Bartz Klauser you **_**could**_** be."**

"Well, I know now, and that's all that matters," Bartz answered matter-of-factly with two quick nods of his head.

"**So, then, tell me."** Suddenly, several people flashed into existence, all looking similar to Bartz, only wearing various outfits, all of which Bartz recognized. They were his thirty-three different Job Classes, all standing on the circular edge of the platform.__**"Who are you?"**

Bartz burst into laughter. "You must be an idiot because all of these people are _also_ me."

"**Yes, yes they are."** Two of the astral clones stepped forward, one wearing a simple, blue tunic over a tan shirt, tan pants tucked into green boots and a red cape with a gold clasp, and one wearing a similar outfit, only with a blue mask obscuring part of his face, red, shoulder armor, and a blue cape instead of a red one. **"But, I think we can both agree these two are a little more 'you' than the others, are they not?"**__The other astral clones vanished, leaving behind the two who stepped forward.

"If you _knew_ that, why'd you ask me who I was?" Bartz asked, now rather exasperated with this conversation.

"**Don't you think it's odd?"**

"What is?"

"**That you're defined by these two Jobs."** The red lights began moving, indicating that the owner of the voice was pacing around in the darkness, obviously thinking hard about something. **"Think about it, young warrior: What is a Mime and a Blue Mage?"**

"A Mime copies the attacks of his friends. A Blue Mage uses the skills of his enemies." He shrugged. "Your point?"

"**Do you know how that works?"**

"A Mime can mimic what he sees perfectly, and a Blue Mage, once hit with an attack, analyzes how it works and, then, can use it himself."

"**Now, then, do you know **_**why**_** that works?"**

"Eh?"

The voice chuckled. **"It's because you make a **_**bond**_** with them. A Mime can only mimic his friends because he knows how his friends think, and thus, can think like them enough to imitate them. A Blue Mage makes a bond though battle with the skill he learns. Through fighting, he learns everything he needs to know with whom he's fighting, and thus, can carry on their legacy through their techniques."**

Bartz blinked twice, clearly surprised. "… Wow… I… I had no idea it was like that! That's so cool!"

"**Are you so certain?"**

"Huh?"

"**Most people… Most are lucky to have talent in either Job. You… You are a strange case. You have talent in **_**both**_** and, because of this; you technically have talent in all Jobs."**

"Okay, your point?"

"**This brings me back to my original question: Who are **_**you**_**?"**

"Eh?"

"**Think about it for a moment, if you will. As a Mime and Blue Mage, you are constantly absorbing information from the people you meet: Friends, enemies, random passerbys… It doesn't matter to you."**

"And?"

"**You take it in… You make it a part of you. The closer they are, the more like them you become."** Bartz's eyes widened in shock and terror. Suddenly, astral copies of everyone he ever met materialized on Bartz's platform, even going beyond the platform into the dark abyss. Bartz began to hyperventilate. He looked for a way out, but he couldn't force his way through the sea of bodies. They all slowly lumbered toward him, and Bartz could only watch in terror as they approached. **"Yes… You see it now. The 'you' that everyone sees… The 'you' that you think you are…"**

"No… No!" Bartz fell to his knees, gripping his head, covering his ears. He didn't want to hear it… He didn't want to believe it…

"**It doesn't exist."**

Bartz could only scream as all the people he ever met began to turn into a dark mist and began to smother him. He frantically tried to force his way out, reaching upward for someone to lend him a helping hand, but it never came. Slowly, his hand began to fade away as his truth came to light.

"**You are more like the wind than you know, young Warrior. Always there, sometimes felt… but never seen."**

"Stop… Stop!" Bartz still struggled to fight his way out, but he grew weaker and weaker by the moment as more of his body faded away in the darkness. "Someone… HELP ME! PLEASE!" The tears began to stream down his face.

"**Now… become like the wind you love so much… and disappear…"**

"BROTHERS!" was the last thing he could say before the darkness completely consumed him.

(-)

"Give him another!" barked an older man in a white lab coat with his dirty, blond hair ragged as the struggled to keep their patient, Bartz, under control.

The silver-blue haired assistant complied, giving Bartz another injection in hopes that it would stabilize him. "Even, what do you think we're dealing with, here, sir?"

Even sighed and shook his head. "I have no idea, Ienzo. In my many years as a doctor, I've never seen anything like this before."

"Hey!" the pilot barked, turning his black and white streaked head toward the doctors in the back. "Keep the kids under control! I'm trying to drive here!"

"Forgive me, Braig," Ienzo apologized. "The Bartz boy's heart rate is highly unst-" Before he could finish the sentence, the heart monitor connected to Bartz flat lined. "HE'S FLATLINING!"

"It's a damn good thing we got here, then!" Braig said, noting their destination of Radiant Garden on the horizon. "I ain't about to let one of _my_ passengers die on me yet!"

Ienzo and Even did all they could to prevent Bartz from dying on the spot. Since they were on a helicopter, they couldn't use a defibrillator, so they had to make due with CPR until Braig could land at the hospital. This went on for a few minutes until, suddenly, Bartz's eyes shot open. Strange thing was, though, his heart monitor was still flat lined. Not only that, but Bartz's eye color… It wasn't brown like it was supposed to be. Instead, his eyes were a burning orange-red, and his pupils were completely constricted. He looked almost as if he was possessed to Ienzo. Bartz tried to sit upright, but the restraints held him in place. He grimaced.

"… Bartz?" Ienzo asked. "Bartz are you okay?"

Bartz whipped his head around to look at Ienzo so fast that Ienzo felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. This whole event was made all the creepier by the fact that the heart monitor was still sounding out that single, straight tone of someone without a heart rate.

"Bartz?" he asked, though the voice was otherwise monotone. "There is no Bartz." He broke the restraints that held him down in such a blinding speed that no one had time to react. Now with both of his hands free, he used them to stab both Ienzo and Even in the chest as if they were swords. "There is only Discord…"

Ienzo grabbed Bartz's hand that stabbed his chest, trying to force it out. "What - What are you doing?!"

Bartz smirked. "Yes… I can sense it… Discord… Discord… Give yourself to Discord…"

Ienzo soon saw dark mist pour out of Bartz and into himself and Even. The pain… Oh dear god, did it burn. It felt like his heart was being _ripped_ out of his chest. He could feel the claws grabbing it, pulling it out, refusing to let to until it was his… "BRAIG!" he barely manage to cough out. "BRAIG, SAVE YOURSELF!"

"What are you – Holy shi-"He was unable to finish the sentence as another arm made of dark mist came straight for his chest. His eyes could only widen in terror as the most _excruciating_ pain he ever felt took hold. He tried to fight the arm off, but it was no use. Doing so only caused him to lose control of the helicopter, causing it to plummet and crash into the ground.

This didn't escape the attention of anyone as they all rushed to try and rescue the people trapped inside. However, someone emerged from the wreckage: A brown-haired boy in his late teens. But, soon, everyone was running screaming in the opposite direction when arms of dark mist began piercing their chests, ripping their hearts from their vessels, bodies disappearing from existence, and dark creatures with glowing yellow eyes replacing them. Soon, the creatures were doing the same as their master, ripping hearts from anyone they could find, increasing their numbers exponentially.

Bartz stood among the flames, seemingly pleased with the chaos he wrought. The dark mist that poured off his body formed a vague shape around his body: a long tail, claws, an extra set of arms, demonic wings, and long horns that curved forward.

The dark voice from Bartz's dreams laughed darkly. **"Yes… YEEEES! This is better than I ever could have imagined!" **The glowing, red eyes looked down at the formerly stained-glass pillar that Bartz was on before. It was completely covered in an inky-blackness. The only thing that remained of its previous owner was the purple crystal he had created with the Goddess's power. However, its glow was quickly waning. It was only a matter of time before it completely faded, like everything else.

"**Cosmos… He is **_**mine**_** now. And, when the last light fades, Chaos shall once again rise."**

~(-)~

**HOLY MOLEY, THIS WAS A LONG CHAPTER, WASN'T IT?!**

**When Bartz snaps out of this, he's totally going to kill me. I even told him what would probably happen, and even **_**I**_** didn't think it was going to be **_**this**_** bad!**

**And, in completely unrelated news, it's been over a year since I started this story! Can you believe it?! Ceeeeelebraaaation! … Well, maybe this isn't the best chapter to do that…**

**Oh, and, I'm going to do a bit of self-advertising: In case you were curious, I do have a second fanfic I'm going to try and work on. It's a Dissidia: Final Fantasy and Pokémon crossover. I'd appreciate if you guys read it and tell me what you think. It only has two chapters (and a prologue) at the moment, but I think my next update will be its chapter 3.**

**But, next time for Memoirs: The brightest lights cast the darkest shadows. Will anyone be able to save Bartz from himself before it's too late? And, just who is this voice that is torturing poor Bartz?! Four keys may be the lights that lead the way…**


	29. Darkness Approaches

… ***sigh* … I have no excuse for this…**

**I really don't.**

**I'm really sorry. OTZ**

~(-)~

"I REPEAT! IT'S A STATE OF EMERGENCY!" screamed a frantic reporter over the news. The reporter and the cameraman in Radiant Garden were looking for some sort of safe haven from whatever was attacking the town. The reporter's breathing was ragged, and, despite the cameraman's best efforts, he was having trouble keeping the camera steady. "I don't really understand what's going on myself, but reports say that strange, black creatures are attacking everyone in sight! According to a few eye witness accounts, these creatures actually _rip out the hearts of people!_" The reporter looked that the camera annoyed. "No, we can't leave. We have to repor-"

"HOLY SHIT!" the camera man screamed. The reporter quickly turned around. Lo-and-behold, the strange, black creatures with glowing yellow eyes were coming up out of the shadows in the ground.

"WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?!" the reporter shrieked.

"I don't know, BUT I'M GETTING THE F-" he was cut off by an attack from one of the creatures from behind, having his heart ripped out and his body fading away in particles of light. The camera fell on the ground, the lens cracked but still operational. The reporter fell on her rear in shock, look of terror plastered on her face as the shadows loomed over her, a look of craving glowing in their otherwise devoid features.

"Jack?! JACK?!" the camera was soon smothered by the dark creatures, perhaps for the best... "No… NO! STAY AWAY!" The only next thing heard was an ear-splitting scream.

(-)

"FIRION! STOP THE CAR!" Tidus demanded. "Firion, turn around. Go home," he added as he reached for his belt buckle.

Firion nodded. "Good idea-" Firion started before he noticed Tidus getting out of the car. "Tidus, what are you doing?"

Tidus shook his head. "I'm not going back."

Firion thought he was joking for a moment, but that look on Tidus's face meant he was **dead** serious. "Tidus, you can't be thinking what I think you're thinking?!"

Tidus just smiled one of his sunny smiles and patted the car twice. "This is something… I have to do, Firion. If I don't come back…" Tidus pulled out a strange blue orb in a gold setting and placed it on the passenger seat. "Could you give this to Yuna for me?"

"Tidus, what are you-"

"Thanks, man!" he shouted with a wave good-bye and was soon running down the road at full speed. Firion was too stunned to say no as he just watched his friend barrel down the road.

(-)

Tidus made it about a mile before he slowed down and stopped. He then sat down and punched the asphault.

"Wait, what the hell am I doing?" he asked himself. "I've still barely got any strength left from earlier…" That feeling of his own body nearly falling apart on him was still fresh in his mind. "What am I even going to do? This is a suicide mission!" He furiously rubbed his head trying to stimulate his brain for any sort of solution. "ARGH, THIS SUUUUUCKS!"

"Going my way?"

Tidus looked up to see… Firion?! The car was parked a few feet in front of Tidus as Firion extended an arm to help Tidus up. Tidus grunted.

"I told you to go home," he pouted, though accepting the hand.

"And, you're coming," Firion added. Tidus then slapped his hand away.

"I can't! I just- …" he exhaled. "I just can't."

"Tidus, I don't know what's wrong if you won't tell me."

"But, I _can't_ tell you!" Tidus insisted.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to get hurt!"

"From what?"

"THEM!"

"Who's 'them'?"

"**THEM!**" Tidus grunted and threw up his arms, exasperated.

"Tidus, you're not making sense!"

"Just trust me on this, okay?!" Tidus sighed. "You're just better off if you just go back now."

Firion couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You _expect_ me to turn around and ignore everything when you're going to run off there for God-knows-why?" Tidus opened his mouth to protest- "And, _don't_ even try to tell me you're not." – and promptly shut his mouth. "Tidus, what can you possibly do to help?"

Tidus just sighed and scratched the back of his head. "… Things." _"Though, I don't know how much help I'll be in my current state."_ He flinched as he still felt drained from earlier.

"And, these things are…?" Tidus refused to make eye contact. "You can't tell me," Firion answered for Tidus. Tidus exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Don't you trust me?"

"O-Of course I trust you!"

"Then why are you keeping secrets from me?"

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE, OKAY?!" Tidus suddenly blurted out, tears welling up in his eyes. "You don't know what it's _like_, telling everyone you're okay when you're suffering inside, telling everyone that there's no problem when the world's falling apart around you, telling everyone that everything's normal when you know it's all a _lie_."

Firion could only blink. "Tidus… have you forgotten?" Tidus looked at his friend. "I'm a war veteran. I _do_ know what that's like, watching the people who placed their lives in my hand die because I failed." Firion's eyes seemed glossy for a moment. "But… why do you?"

Tidus sighed and scratched his head. "… Because… I'm fighting in a war, too…" he admitted, so quietly Firion almost didn't hear him.

"You? But-" Tidus raised a hand and cut off his sentence.

"I know you might find it hard to believe, but it's true. I'll show you." Tidus's crystal appeared in a flash of light. Firion nearly jumped out of his skin.

"How did you do that?!"

"Magic," Tidus answered simply. Tidus offered the crystal to Firion. "Go ahead – you'll see."

Firion grabbed the crystal, and images began to flash in his mind. There, he saw himself through Tidus's eyes as Tidus watched Firion struggle to fulfill his "dream" as his friends all supported him in his venture. How, during this whirlwind of a journey, they all grew as close companions, some more than others, as they simply tried to end the war and find their way back home. When Firion saw enough, he gave the crystal back to Tidus.

"… Tidus… What's going on?"

Tidus signed. "Someone seems to have gotten the last of Chaos's power and now uses it to try and restart the war. Why? I don't know." Tidus looked in the general direction of Radiant Garden. "Bartz, Squall, Zidane, and Vaan are currently in the middle of _that_."

"Yes, this is a troublesome situation indeed," Firion agreed. "We'd better wait for backup."

"Yeah, that's why -" Tidus did a double-take. "Wait, 'we'?!"

Firion chuckled. "What? Did you think I'd let you run off into danger alone?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No 'but's. I'm going to help."

Suddenly, Firion had a flashback to a time when he was back in the company with Reks.

"_Firion, may I talk with you?" Reks asked._

_Firion was on his bed in the middle of writing a letter to his family, Maria and Guy, when Reks interrupted him. He placed his pencil behind his ear. "Sure, what's the matter?"_

_Reks sat down on the bed near him. "Firion, if…" Reks found it hard to finish the sentence. Firion's face only had a questioning look. Reks sighed. "If something should happen to me, heaven forbid, could you help keep an eye out for my brothers?" Reks scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward about this. "I mean, nothing major, just make sure they have a 'big brother' they can talk to." He coughed. "I mean, I know they have Dad, but… ya'know…" Reks could feel his cheeks burning._

_Firion simply smiled. "Sure, if it'll put your mind at ease, anyway."_

_Reks sighed and smiled. "Thanks, it really does." Reks chuckled to himself. "Though, I should warn you: you don't really know what you've just gotten yourself into. My brothers are troublemakers."_

_Firion laughed. "Come on. They can't be that bad."_

_Reks laughed in return. "You've obviously never been around for April Fool's Day."_

_The two shared a hearty laugh as the memory came to an end._

"… I have a promise to keep."

Tidus knew about the importance of promises to Firion, so he didn't try to argue it any further. "We better get moving. We've got a lot of distance to travel, and you're gonna need to see Cosmos when we get there."

"Who?" Firion asked. He hadn't seen all of Tidus's "memories", so he wasn't familiar with Cosmos yet.

Tidus smacked himself on the forehead. "Right, you don't remember her yet… Uh… think of her like mission control. Don't worry, I'll explain as much as I can on the way."

The two got back to the car and drove off to the thicket of danger.

(-)

"Bravo, kiddo!" A black portal opened up in the middle of the town, and from it, three men stepped out in black coats with their hoods up, the one speaking was also clapping. He then stopped clapping to remove his hood. The one speaking was the black-and-gray haired man, though his eyes were now a golden-yellow, almost identical to the helicopter pilot. "Bravo! Didn't think you had it in ya!" he added with a light chuckle.

Bartz simply turned to look at him. Before the others could react, three figures made of dark mist had pointed weapons of the same dark mist at their throats. These figures' glowing, yellow eyes were boring into the three, cloaked men's skulls. The yellow globes showed no hint of emotion, not that the three expected there to be any, considering what they were.

"State your name and business, and I may let you live," Bartz warned the trio.

"You know, it's generally customary for someone to give their own name before-" One of the other hooded men began before he was shut up by a one of the dark-mist figure's sword resting threateningly at his Adam's apple.

They quickly complied. "Xigbar, Number II in Organization XIII," the skunk-streaked man responded.

"V-Vexen!" The taller, hooded man answered as he lowered his hood in a state of panic, revealing the dirty-blond hair underneath. "Number IV in Organization XIII!"

"Zexion," the shortest one answered as he, too, lowered his hood to show his silver-blue hair slightly obscuring his face. "Number XI in Organization XIII."

Bartz seemed to mull over their responses for a moment, studying them with his glowing red-orange eyes. He turned away. "Destroy them," he ordered his subordinates.

"WHOA, WHOA!" The three barely managed to avoid the deadly slash at their necks. "I-Is that any way to treat loyal conspirators?!" Xigbar asked. The shadowy figures stopped their attacks. "We're a lot like you, you know! All we wanna do is cause as much mayhem and destruction as we can!" He attempted to step forward, hoping he was getting through to Bartz, but one of the dark-mist figure's "sword" stopped him in his tracks. "Come on! At least give us a chance to prove it!"

The shadowy figures looked back at their master, looking for his decision. Bartz nodded, and the figures lowered their weapons. "Very well." Bartz looked back in the direction he was transported in the helicopter from. "Coming from the west, I can sense approaching Harmony. They have left the safety of Her barrier and are coming this way. I can also sense strong Discord approaching as well. Destroy the Harmony, and capture the Discord."

"Uh… Professor, what's he talking about?" Xigbar asked.

Zexion placed a hand on his chin, thinking about it carefully. "Hm… If we're to take into account what he did to us on the helicopter and to the people in town, from what it looks like this 'Bartz' might be a type of Heartless." Zexion studied the three shadowy-beings before them. "Like all Heartless, they can sense Darkness, or what he appears to be calling Discord, in the hearts of people."

Just then, two more portals or darkness opened up. Stepping through were two men in similar cloak-like coats, one rather large man with his black, dreadlocked hair pulled into a ponytail and one very large man with his red-brown hair standing on end.

"Perhaps he is sensing an ally of ours?" the large man asked, having caught the conversation.

"Lexaus!" Zexion greeted happily. "It is good to see you." Bartz was glaring at them suspiciously.

"Yo, you may want to introduce yourselves, just so this guy doesn't get mad," Xigbar suggested to the newcomers.

The dreadlocked man went first. "Xaldin, Number III of the Organization."

"Lexaus, Number V of the Organization," the large man stated. Bartz sneered when he heard that number.

Bartz snorted, but otherwise paid them no mind. The three shadowy figures made their way back toward their master. Bartz gave them a few commands to his subordinates out of ear shot of the members of the Organization, nodded, and dissolved into misty clouds, vanishing. Bartz, noticing the members of the Organization were still loli-gagging around, shot them an angry look. "Well?! You have your assignments, or would you rather die now?!" he growled, a wave of darkness blasting off of him.

The members braced themselves against the wave. Many were shocked that he could exude such pressure just from _talking_ to them. Afterwards, Bartz himself summoned one of the dark portals and entered, disappearing for someplace unknown to the Organization.

Xigbar snorted. "What's _his_ problem?!" He scratched his head. "I mean, it's not like _we_ can sense where these 'Harmony' or 'Discord' are!" Xigbar continued to mutter other unrepeatable words under-his-breath.

Xaldin snorted. "Just use the Heartless." The Shadow Heartless at their feet twitched anxiously and stared out in the distance, sensing something especially juicy in that particular direction. "_They_ seem to know."

"Fine, fine…" Xigbar sighed. "Number II… reduced to an errand boy…"

Lexaus was deep in thought over their new "boss." "So, there's another Heartless that can retain his human form?"

Zexion shook his head. "I'm not so sure. From what I can, well, smell, he seems to _reek_ of Darkness… Even more than the Superior himself."

Xigbar did a double-take. "More than the Superior?! As if!" He waved his hand around brushing that remark off. "**No one** has more Darkness than _him_."

"Actually, I believe it's more… complex than that," Zexion started. "It's not like he has more Darkness than the Superior, per se…" He paused, trying to find the right words. "It's… more like… he's Darkness _itself_, or, very close to it, anyway."

"How can you _be_ Darkness?" Xigbar shook his head not making sense of it. "Kid, you're not making _any_ sense."

Zexion just shot him an angry look. "Look, I'm just theorizing on what I observe. I _am_ a scientist, after all."

"Whaaaaatever," Xigbar answered, just waving his hand around in an attempt to drop the conversation. Xigbar then materialized his purple crossbows and addressed the Heartless at his feet. "Alllright, you adorable abominations, let's go to work!"

The Heartless that had gathered took off in the direction indicated by Bartz earlier as they tracked down the Harmony they sensed. Xigbar wasn't very far behind.

(-)

"Tidus! I can't believe you!" Terra scolded from the back of Cloud's bike.

"Look, it wasn't my fault!" He yelled back from inside of Firion's car. "He was too persistant!"

"Besides," Cloud interjected. "We could use all the help we can get right now."

"Still," Firion added. "I can't believe some of the things you go through… But, yet, I can feel in my heart that it's true."

"Are you sure you want to do this, Firion?" Tidus asked again. Firion nodded.

"Absolutely."

Suddenly, materializing out in the road in front of them were an army of Heartless of varying types. There had to be at least a hundred in their way. Firion and Cloud fought to bring their vehicles to a skidding halt.

"HOLD ON!" the two exclaimed to their passengers. Terra squeezed Cloud tighter as Tidus braced himself against the inside of the car.

Terra shuddered. "These things… So much Discord…"

Cloud spat. "Heartless…" Cloud, Terra, and Tidus pulled out their Crystals and transformed. "Tidus! Keep Firion protected. Terra, you're with me." Cloud revved his bike back up and drove into the Heartless army. When he was close, he and Terra jumped off the bike as it crashed and exploded, destroying a few Heartless in a smoky puff with it. As Cloud landed, he shot out a beam of energy from his sword, slicing up a few more Heartless with it. Terra formed five pearls of Holy light and shot them at the Heartless, instantly annihilating any that came into contact with them.

Noticing the effectiveness of her Holy, Terra remarked, "Gosh, I wish the Warrior, Cecil, or Bartz were here…"

"Or Sora," Cloud added.

Suddenly, a blast of Thunder magic appeared out of nowhere and destroyed a few more Heartless. Terra and Cloud were on alert, making sure they weren't being ambushed.

However, fazing into existence was none other than Reks. "Sorry, but will I do?"

"Reks!" Terra exclaimed happily.

"What are you doing here?" Cloud asked.

Reks turned his attention back toward the Heartless. "Long story short: Cosmos noticed these things coming after you and asked me to help." He summoned an esper crystal between his hands and smashed them with his fists. "Is that alright?"

Firion blinked twice not quite sure what he was seeing. "R-Reks?"

Reks looked back when he heard his name. "Yo, Firion! How's life?" He blasted a Heartless that came at him with a quick beam of Holy energy fired from his palms.

Terra caused several water geysers to erupt from underneath some Heartless. "Reks, how'd you get here?"

Reks barely dodged a trio of fireballs from Cloud. "Oh, as a former Reaper, I can jump between the two realms a bit easier than you guys."

"Former?" Cloud asked as he parried a sword lunge from a knight-like Heartless, an Armored Knight, and sliced it in half.

Reks pulled out his pistol as an Esper crystal materialized, shooting it to cause an ear-splitting scream erupt as spirits and a shockwave blasted apart several more Heartless. "Again, long story."

"If that's the case," Cloud started as sliced up a Heartless twice, then running through several in a star-like pattern, herding several in a circle before running them through from above and blasting them into the ground. "Think you can run to Cosmos and get Firion's Crystal for us?"

Reks side-stepped out of the way of a fully-charged Meltdown as it mowed down several Heartless before it exploded. "Sure, be right back!" he said as he faded out.

(-)

Elsewhere, twilight hung in the air like a thick mist as it painted the stone-building town various hues of red and orange. The cobblestone roads were only moderately busy as people shuffled to and fro on their way home from work. However, there were some teens running along the road, two females to be exact. One was a red-head wearing a hot-pink dress over a white top and closely behind was a blond-haired girl wearing a simple white dress.

"Kairi!" the blond pleaded with the red-head. "Slow down!" The blond struggled to keep up and was running out of breath.

Kairi turned around but was still running in the same direction as before. "It's not my fault you can't keep up! I'm going to eat all the ice cream before you do, Naminé," she teased. Naminé only wheezed in protest. Kairi giggled. "Besides, we're late enough as it is!"

"I'm sorry!" Naminé whined. "I just wanted to sketch out my inspiration before I lost it!"

"Yeah, yeah…" she answered rolling her eyes. This was a common occurrence.

(-)

"Welcome to the Twilight Town Ice Cream Bar- Oh, hey, girls!" the man behind the counter greeted, his spikey, red hair contrasting perfectly with his bright, green eyes. His brown bandana around his neck and bright, orange top seemed to be a little too casual to be the manager of this establishment, but, hey, when you sell ice cream this good, who cares?

"Hey, Lea," Kairi and Naminé answered.

"The usual?" he asked, and the two girls nodded. "Comin' right up." He reached into the little freezer and pulled out two wrapped ice cream bars and handed them to the girls. "I let Xion go for the day not too long ago. She should be up there waiting." Kairi and Naminé accepted the ice cream happily. "She's mad that you didn't meet her here after she got done her shift, you know."

Kairi pouted. "Well, _I_ tried, but Nami held me up."

Lea smirked. "Are you sure you weren't just waiting for a phone call from your _boyfriiiiend_…"

Kairi turned beat red. "I-It's not like that! W-We aren't dating!"

"Uh-huh…" Lea took her reaction otherwise.

"WE'RE NOT!" Kairi insisted.

Lea just shrugged. "Fine… Fine. Better hurry before they melt."

As Kairi and Naminé walked away, they heard bits and pieces of "Kairi and Sora sittin' in a tree…"

Naminé could practically see the steam coming out of Kairi's ears.

(-)

The two made it to the train station at the top of the hill. There, they met the rest of their friends. First was a long, silver-haired young man with icy-teal eyes, a raven-haired young woman wearing a checker-patterned dress, a young man with wild, dirty blond hair, a portly kid with his black hair held up with a headband, and another young female with her brown hair in two braided pigtails.

Kairi and Naminé ran up to them completely out of breath. "Sorry… we're late… guys…" Kairi panted.

"Yeah, well, you better hope our ice cream's still cold," scolded the dirty-blond boy.

The seven of them climbed the clock tower and sat on the ledge like they always do and watch the sun set. It was a weird tradition of theirs but not one they ever questioned. They quickly unwrapped their respective ice cream bars, all pale-blue, and began eating them in a hurry as they began to drip onto the unsuspecting populace below.

"So…" the blond-boy began. "You guys get me anything?"

"No," the silver one answered curtly. That instantly hit a button on the blond.

"What, I'm not good enough for you, Riku?!" he shouted.

"Something like that, Hayner," he teased back. It looked like a vein on Hayner's forehead was about to pop.

The brown-haired girl only sighed. "They're at it again, Xion."

Xion giggled. "Seems like it."

The portly-kid sighed this time. "When are Sora and Roxas coming back?"

"I know, right, Pence?" Xion agreed. "I bet Kairi misses them the most." Kairi nearly choked on her bite. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

"Will you guys quit that?" she snapped. "Seriously, is this all you ever talk about?"

"No, but it's fun to see you react like that," Xion smiled. Kairi glared at her.

"Besides…" Riku added eating another bite of his bar. "I know you're not interested in me or else I would have made my move by now."

"R-Riku…" Kairi started before he cut her off.

"Nah, it's alright," he said waving it off. "I was bitter about it at first, but I quickly realized that you and him are perfect for each other. Besides, we can still be friends, right?"

"You sure it's not because Xion's been giving you the eye?" Kairi teased back. Riku turned away to hide his building blush.

"How disgusting."

The seven looked around to see who it was who said that since they knew it was none of their voices, and they knew none of them would say anything like that. They turned around to see a brown-haired teen not much older than them glaring at them with his burning, orange eyes.

It took a few seconds to register, but Kairi knew him. "B-Bartz?" The young man flinched at that name. "Bartz, is that you?" He growled. "Wh-What… How? What are you doing here?"

Faster than anyone could register, Bartz had grabbed Kairi by the neck and began squeezing the life out of it. "THAT IS NOT MY NAME," he insisted. Kairi was being held over the edge by her neck.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Riku asked as his fist connected with Bartz's jawline. Bartz, however, wasn't even fazed, and Riku actually came out of it worse off since he hurt his hand in the process. He tried shaking out the pain. "The hell?!"

Bartz then took an interest in Riku, sensing the buried resentment he felt toward Sora and Kairi. The three, dark-mist soldiers materialized again, one grabbed Naminé and another Xion. Bartz threw Kairi at the third as it caught it in its smoke-formed arms. Hayner, Pence, and Olette could only look on in terror as the three soldiers then disappeared with their captives in hand. Bartz then made his way over to Riku. Riku tried to punch Bartz again, but this time, Bartz caught the fist and bent it around Riku's back, pinning him painfully.

"I can _sense_ it…" he hissed in Riku's ear. "Your darkness… it burns… Deep in your heart… You can try to bury it… but it's _there_… That hate… that resentment…" The dark mist figure formed from Bartz again and shot its arms through Riku's chest. "Let it burn."

Riku could only scream in pain.

(-)

Squall slowly stirred awake. His vision was hazy as his mind struggled to clear the fog. Finally able to see well enough, he took in his surroundings.

Needless to say, it wasn't at all what he was expecting.

"… Where _am_ I?" he asked as he stared out into the weird space that had destroyed pieces of land hovering in a black, starless sky as they swirled into nothingness.

"SQUAAAAAALL!"

Squall turned in the direction he heard his name come from to see Zidane and Vaan bounding along the floating rocks toward him.

When they finally made it to him, Squall nodded. "Glad to see you guys are okay."

Vaan waved off the compliment like it was nothing. "I'd rather know where exactly we _are_."

Zidane looked around. "… Bartz's not with you?"

Squall shook his head. "I haven't seen him." Vaan and Zidane looked at each other with concern. "Guessing you haven't either." _"Which is weird since, the last thing I remember, we _were_ together…"_

"Well, we're not gonna find out anything just standing around here, right?" Vaan asked, folding his hands behind his head. "Might as well keep moving."

Squall nodded. "Stay close," he ordered as he began to also bound across the rocks. Fortunately, gravity seemed lower here since it was fairly easy to jump and move around between them. Not only that, but the rocks would seem to move into place to catch them. Zidane and Vaan were not too far behind.

After what seemed like hours, it didn't seem like they were making any sort of headway.

"What is _up_ with this place?" Zidane whined. "Nothing about it makes sense!"

"How'd we even _get_ here to begin with?!" Vaan added.

Squall stayed on alert, soaking up as much of his surrounding as possible in hopes of avoiding being turned around, but, even to his more trained senses, even he had to admit they were lost. The fact that this space seemed to ignore every law of physics didn't help matters.

However, for a moment, out of the corner of his eye, Squall swore he saw something. Quickly spinning around, he began to quickly running after what he saw in hopes of chasing it down before it got away. The movement was so sudden, Vaan and Zidane barely kept up.

"Squall! Wait up!" the two called out, but Squall was hot on the trail of whatever he saw.

When he finally got a better look at the thing he saw, it looked to be a large cat of some kind, to lithe to be a lion or tiger… maybe a cheetah? But, cheetahs aren't really blue, nor have little wings for ears or having them spurt out of their shoulder blades. Instead of spots like a normal cheetah, it had swirl-like patterns wrapping around its legs, and its tail looked bladed. Also clear, crystal like wraps covered its ankles, and it wore a circlet and beaded necklace of some sort. The creature looked back to see that it was being followed, but continued to run ahead. It didn't seem scared to Squall, more like it was hoping Squall would follow.

After chasing it for some time, the creature finally came to a stop as the others caught up to it. They noticed that the creature stopped before a stone path that hovered out in space. It seemed to look at them with sad eyes. Squall scatched its head, and the creature purred.

"Didn't know you had such a way with animals, Squall," Vaan teased. Squall simply glared at him. Squall noticed that there was a pendant of some sort on the necklace the creature wore. It had an odd symbol on it. It looked like a heart of some kind, but when Squall grabbed it, the creature recoiled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Squall apologized. "I just wanted to see if you had a name." The creature still seemed rather sensitive about its collar.

"Is this the way out?" Zidane asked. The creature shook its head no. "Okay, so where's this go?" The creature began down the path only to be ambushed by a menagerie of bizarre animals, all eerie shades of blacks, greens, spectral blues and glowing, red eyes. The creature hunched its back and growled at them. Squall, Zidane, and Vaan didn't need another word and quickly summoned their weapons.

"Wherever it goes, I don't think it'll be easy getting there," Vaan pointed out before summoning a blue crest above his head and smashing it, causing giant droplets of water to fall and burst, clearing a small path.

"GO!" Squall ordered as he sliced through several more with his blade in a blue glow.

(-)

Terra and Cloud were making good headway on the Heartless hoards as Tidus kept Firion covered while they waited for Reks to return with his Crystal. Terra commanded several meteors to fall over the Heartless hoards while Cloud grabbed one of the hovering, turret-like Heartless and used its own laser against the rest of the Heartless, eliminating a good number more. They had taken out about three-fourths of the army before Reks _finally_ got back.

"Sorry!" he apologized as he phased in. "Got it!"

"Well, hurry up, man!" Tidus whined as he chucked his Blitzball (Cosmos fixed it up for him) at some Heartless that had broken away from the pack in an attempt to surround them. "I don't _got_ all day."

Reks pulled out his Greatsword and charged spinning, gathering up earth and blowing apart all the Heartless in his path toward Firion.

"Here," he said, presenting Firion's pink crystal to him. "Take it; you'll figure out the rest."

Firion gulped, somewhat excited, but also nervous about what could be waiting for him on the other side of his memories. He took it in hand, and a flood of memories and power rushed into his being.

_He could see his home of Fynn burning… He saw the man who would try to claim everything as his own… He saw person after person die in an attempt to bring his ambition to a halt… He saw his own brother try to end his life… He saw the Emperor return from the dead to try to reclaim the land once more… He saw interesting and wonderful people ripped forcefully from their home fight in a war without a real reason, some upset about it, others seeing this as a wonderful opportunity… Casting down the Emperor for the final time…_

… _And, after that…_

Firion opened his eyes, his former strength how his once more. Firion wore the outfit he saw in his memories: a beaded bandana that tied his hair back save for a ponytail that ran down his back, light, black and blue armor with shoulder guards, one having a large spike coming off of it, blue, cloth gauntlets wrapped in beads, a black, metal belt, gray leggings into blue, armored boots, and a sky, blue cape draped over his shoulders. However, the most unexpected thing was Firion's eyes… They glowed with an orange hue.

"… Firion?" Tidus questioned. "You okay?"

Firion just smiled at Tidus. "I'm fine… better than fine, actually." He summoned his weapons, flipping the bow over his shoulder and slicing the air with his blade. "Time to kill these… these…"

"Heartless," Tidus finished.

"Right, Heartless…" Firion whipped out his bow and took aim at several Heartless and fired, blasting them apart in a puff of smoke. "… What exactly _are_ Heartless?"

Tidus just shrugged. "Dunno. Cloud knows more about 'em than I do."

Cloud noticed the familiar arrow and turned back. "Welcome to the party, Firion." Cloud summoned several meteors from his blade and commanded them to crash into several more Heartless. "Let's mosey."

In no time at all, the last of the Heartless were dispatched. Finally, with a bit of a reprieve, they headed back toward Firion's car (since Cloud destroyed his motorcycle). However, a quick, purple bolt stopped the five in their tracks.

"Who's there?!" Firion demanded.

"Heh, looks like we got _someone_ who fancies himself a marksman…" They couldn't see where the voice was coming from, but it sounded fairly close. "… As if."

"Show yourself!" Cloud barked.

"Fine… Fine…" the voice answered as a dark portal opened up on the roof of Firion's car, and Xigbar stepped out. "Happy?"

It took a moment for it to register with Cloud, but, while he didn't recognize the man, he did recognize the coat. "… You're a member of the Organization, aren't you?"

The eye-patch wearing man eyed Cloud with his one good eye and burst into laughter when he recognized him. "Oooooh, if it isn't 'I'm totally **not** compensating for something with sword'," he remarked with as much sarcasm as he could muster. "How are you, Spiky?" Tidus snickered when he heard that remark.

"IAMNOTCOMPENSATINGFORSOMETHI NGTHISWASAGIFT." (His sword's a touchy subject)

"Right… right… So, how's your boyfriend… Sephiroth, was it?" This guy was doing a very good job at pressing Cloud's buttons. Tidus was trying very hard not to burst into laughter right there. Cloud jumped at him and intended to cleave him in two. Xigbar just calmly dodged out of the way.

"Hey! I was trying to make conversation. No need to get all huffy," he said as he now hovered in the air in front of them upside down. "Yeash."

Of course, the others gasped. "Gravity magic!" Terra exclaimed.

Xigbar began to clap. "Well, well… We got a smart cookie over here!" Next thing anyone knew, he warped right behind Firion. "I'd actually be impressed… If, you know, I _had_ a heart…" Firion turned around quickly and shot a Thunder spell at him, but he quickly warped out of the way again. Xigbar just sighed. "… Don't think any of you guys are the ones the boss wants me to get… What a bummer…"

"Boss?" Reks questioned.

Xigbar just shrugged. "That's for me to know, and you to die." That was the only warning they were going to get before he began firing his crossbows at the group with blinding speed and accuracy. Terra quickly cast a barrier that reflected several of the bolts. Xigbar spat.

"So, you're more than just good at recognizing spells, aren't ya, girlie?" Terra's gaze on Xigbar intensified. Xigbar just shrugged.

Coming up the road was a car that was weaving dangerously around in traffic, trying very hard to avoid crashing and crashing into the Heartless. The driver noticed that there were people in the road and honked his horn telling them to move. Everyone managed to barely dive out of the way. For the few moments that they could see the driver, Reks and, unfortunately, Xigbar, recognized the driver right away.

"U-Uncle Terra?!" Reks exclaimed. Terra looked at him confused. "Uh… not you."

Xigbar chuckled to himself. "Ooooh, so _that's_ who he meant…" Xigbar began to fly after him. "Sorry, kiddos, but I can't play anymore. Ol' Xigbar's got a job to do~!" he taunted as he fired several bolts at the car, managing to get one in the tire. The tire instantly popped as the driver lost control of his vehicle. Terra tried to throw a chunk of ice at Xigbar, but he simply warped out of the way as the car crashed into the center divider. The car was wrecked. and the airbags were deployed. Fortunately, Terra was alive but unconscious. Xigbar threw open the door and grabbed the unconscious Terra. "Yeash, you're a big one, aren't you?" Terra was now flying after him, sword in hand, but Xigbar opened a portal behind him. "Chao~" he said, saluting as he disappeared causing Terra to swipe at empty air.

"Where'd he-" Tidus began before Cloud cut him off.

"Gone." Cloud made his way to Firion's car. "Come on, we'd better get a move on. Tidus, call Sora. Tell him everything that's happened."

"Uh… right!"

"I'll drive," Firion stated as everyone piled into the car. Firion and Cloud were up front, Tidus, Terra, and Reks in the back.

"What do we do now?" Terra asked as they made their way toward Radiant Garden.

"Let's get there first, then figure out from there," Cloud affirmed as the buildings of the city appeared on the horizon.

~(-)~

**Finally, I can get this story back on the road. Before, it felt like Firion's addition to the ranks was a bit more forced. This feels more natural now, and I'm happier with it. Hopefully, things should move a little smoother now.**

**But, I have good/bad news. It's the same thing, but I don't know how you guys will interpret it. I'm actually (hopefully) going back to school soon to earn a Bachelor's degree in making video games! I'm actually really excited. Maybe one day, you guys will play a game I helped to make. I have lots of ideas for games, so I just need the background to make them.**

**But, anyway…**

**Next time: The Organization is working with Bartz possessed by darkness! The rest of the Pride are lost in some alter-space, and an odd place messes with everyone's minds. Sora and Roxas come to help but are confronted by ghosts of their past. Can anyone hope to rescue Bartz when they're the ones in trouble?**


End file.
